COLUMBUS, Ohio - In the second home contest in three days, the Ohio Dominican Panthers (3-6) men's basketball team earned their third straight home win on Friday (Dec. 15) night. The Panthers got past the Golden Eagles of Kent State-Tuscarawas (7-4) by a final score of 74-66. 

With the two game winning streak this week, the Panthers won back-to-back games for the first time since December 11th and 18th, 2021. Also with the last three home games coming as wins, that was the first time since February 2020.  

BOX SCORE NOTES

• Luke Ruth (Grove City, Ohio) finished with a team-high 19 points in the game on six-of-12 shooting, a trio of three point makes (on four attempts) and then a perfect four-of-four at the free throw line. With his five rebounds, five assists and career-high four steals, Ruth ended with a +8 in the +/- column. 
• Sean McKitrick (Dayton, Ohio) was nearly identical to Ruth in shooting on Friday. He also had six field goals, three triples and only two-of-two at the charity stripe. He set a career-high with six dimes to go with his four rebounds and one steal. 
• Caleb Brooks (Florence, Kentucky) scored 15 points with six rebounds and a best two blocks. The freshman was five-of-nine shooting with a three pointer and four free throws. 
• Nate Webb (Lafayette, Indiana) had the hot hand from deep as he netted 12 points on four three pointers. Webb was +17 on the floor. 
• Zac Kimball (Sydney, Australia) added eight points and eight rebounds with two steals. 
• With a 42.6% (26-61) field goal percentage compared to Kent State-Tuscarawas's 43.9% (25-57), this was the first win in five games when the opponent outshoots ODU. 
• The Panthers set season bests with 12 three pointers made and 18 assists. ODU had the second highest three point percentage (41.4%) and nine steals also in Friday's game. 
• On defense, the Panthers forced a season-high 18 turnovers leading to 18 points. 
• With leading for 38:31 of game time, this was the longest lead time for the season. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After opening minute buckets for each team, the Panthers scooted away on a 7-2 run to lead 9-4 four minutes into the game. Kent State-Tuscarawas cut the lead to one with back-to-back baskets as ODU led 9-8 at the under-16 media timeout. 
• Brooks scored five of the next eight points for Ohio Dominican as they pushed the lead to 17-10 with 11:16 left in the first half. 
• Webb made two more threes over the course of the next six minutes to get the Panther lead to seven since the Golden Eagles were trying to cut into the lead. With a 27-20 lead, Kent State-Tuscarawas made back-to-back threes to make it 27-26. Every time Kent State-Tuscarawas got within one in the final two and a half minutes, the Panthers answered with a three pointer of their own as Ruth and McKitrick pushed the lead back to four. 
• Ohio Dominican led 33-29 at the halftime break. 
• Four quick Golden Eagle points out of halftime tied the game at 33-33 less than a minute back into action. 
• Over the next six minutes, the Panthers went on a 19-5 run to open a 14-point lead. Ruth scored seven points of his own while ODU hit a trio of threes to reach their biggest lead of the night at that point. A MacDonald three with 13:56 left gave the Panthers a 52-38 lead. 
• Kent State-Tuscarawas answered back with a 12-2 run to make it 54-50 with under ten minutes left. 
• In the next four minutes, Ohio Dominican went on a 9-0 rally, regaining a 13-point lead (63-50) with 5:42 to go. 
• Ohio Dominican got the lead to touch 14 twice in the final five minutes but the Golden Eagles made one last push in the final 2:30. 
• Kent State-Tuscarawas had one last gasp with a 12-2 run to get within 70-66 with 18 seconds left. 
• McKitrick and Ruth closed the game with a pair of free throw makes for a 74-66 win. 

UP NEXT

• Ohio Dominican will head to Salem on Tuesday (Dec. 19) for another non-conference game prior to the Holiday break. Tipoff is set for 3:00 PM.