COLUMBUS, Ohio - Behind two major performances of the double-double variety, the Ohio Dominican Panthers men's basketball team picked up their first win of the 2023-24 season at home on Wednesday (Nov. 22) afternoon.
Ohio Dominican (1-3) defeated the Wilberforce Bulldogs 88-81 in the final game before Thanksgiving.
JeJuan Weatherspoon (Columbus, Ohio) and
Caleb Brooks (Florence, Kentucky) both had double-doubles that helped the Panthers get head coach
Casey Kaufman his first win in Black and Gold.
BOX SCORE NOTES
- Weatherspoon led all scorers with 35 points and 20 rebounds on the day. The Columbus native went 13-of-25 from the floor and eight-of-11 at the free throw line for his career-high day. Of his 20 rebounds, eight of them were on the offensive end. He added two steals and one block.
- In the first half, Weatherspoon totaled 15 points and 12 rebounds before adding 20 points and eight boards in the second half.
- Weatherspoon becomes the second Division II player to reach 20 rebounds in a game and holds the highest single-game total for points and rebounds for the G-MAC.
- This is the fourth 20-rebounds contest in the Division II era for the Panthers.
- Brooks followed Weatherspoon's lead with his first career double-double in only his fourth game. He tallied 29 points and 11 rebounds for both career-highs. He managed to go nine-of-13 overall and knocked down 11 of his 14 free throw attempts.
- The freshman scored 13 first half points and had 16 points in the second half.
- The pair of double-doubles were the first time since March 2, 2019 at Ohio Valley where two Panthers had double-doubles in the same contest.
- Luke Ruth (Grove City, Ohio) was nearly in double figures with nine points along with four rebounds and four assists with a block.
- Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Michigan) was one of three players with two steals.
- Zac Kimball (Sydney, Australia) scored six points with five rebounds and two steals.
- Nate Webb (Lafayette, Indiana) finished the game with a stat line of four points, five rebounds, two assists and one block.
- Ohio Dominican set a season-high with a 47.7% (31-65) field goal percentage despite going 1-of-18 from deep.
- In the game, the Panthers also added to the season-highs with 25 makes out of 24 attempts at the free throw line (73.5%).
- Wilberforce shot 45.3% from the floor with a 32.0% three-point % and a 75% free throw clip.
- The Panthers out-rebounded Wilberforce 46-21 with 16 offensive rebounds.
- ODU totaled 27 second chance points.
- This was the first time since January 5, 2021 where two Panthers had ten or more rebounds in the same game.
- More season-highs occurred with five blocks and nine steals for the Panthers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- ODU and Wilberforce were tied five times in the first six minutes, leading up to a 10-10 tie. Wilberforce went on an 8-0 run and then 10-2 to open an eight point lead with 12:48 left in the first half, 20-12.
- The Panthers used four straight layups to tie the game at 20 with 10:49 remaining in the opening half.
- After Wilberforce regained a 23-20 lead, ODU scored eight straight points from Ruth and Brooks, scoring four points each. The Panthers opened a 28-23 lead with 7:20 to go.
- The team exchanged the lead multiple times before Wilberforce led 44-42 at halftime.
- Weatherspoon scored the first five second half points as the Panthers took back the lead for good. Over the first eight minutes of the half, Weatherspoon and Brooks combined for the first 20 points.
- Weatherspoon added 11 points while Brooks had nine points during the run.
- Wilberforce got within one point at 65-64 (10:12 left) before the Panthers answered with a 12-3 run on six Weatherspoon points. Ohio Dominican led 77-67 with 6:22 left.
- The Bulldogs made one last run but the Panthers held off the run for an 88-81 win.
UP NEXT
- The Panthers will head on the road for the next four games, starting with the Great Midwest opener next Thursday (Nov. 30) at Cedarville.
