COLUMBUS, Ohio - In the final game of the 2023 calendar year, the Ohio Dominican Panthers (3-8, 0-4 G-MAC) men's basketball team returned to conference play as they hosted the Thomas More Saints (9-4, 3-1 G-MAC) at Alumni Hall. 

To begin a three-game home conference swing, the Panthers were defeated 61-50 by the Saints on Saturday (Dec. 30) afternoon. 
 

BOX SCORE NOTES

• Luke Ruth (Grove City, Ohio) led the Panthers with 16 points on the afternoon. Ruth finished with the team lead in points for the 3rd time this season and this was the fourth straight game (eighth time overall) in double-figures. He shot seven-of-12 from the floor and two-for-four from the free throw line. The freshman added five rebounds, three assists and two steals. 
• Sean McKitrick (Dayton, Ohio) set a career-high with nine rebounds to go with his 13 point effort. The freshman made a team-high two three pointers. 
• Caleb Brooks (Florence, Kentucky) scored ten points with five rebounds, one block and three assists. 
• Nate Webb (Lafayette, Indiana) added seven points in his 11th start of the season. 
• Zac Kimball (Sydney, Australia) pulled down ten rebounds for a career-best. 
• Lachlan MacDonald (Dublin, Ohio) had two points, two rebounds and one assist and steal. 
• Ohio Dominican shot 38.8% (19-49) overall in the game, 23.1% (3-13) from deep and 64.3% (9-14) at the free throw line.
• For the third time this season, the Panthers had out-rebounded a team. Ohio Dominican had 35 rebounds to Thomas More's 34. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Thomas More opened the game with the first four points before Brooks answered with four points of his own as ODU trailed 7-4 early. 
• The Saints expanded the lead to 13 (22-9) with 7:28 left in the first half, using a 15-5 run. 
• Ohio Dominican scored six straight points as they cut the lead to 22-15 at the four minute mark. 
• Both teams exchanged points in the next four minutes as the Saints took a 29-22 lead into the halftime break. 
  • Brooks led the Panthers with eight points at the intermission. 
• A 8-0 Saints run out of halftime gave Thomas More a 37-22 lead two minutes in. 
• Later in the second half, Thomas More got to a 19-point lead (51-32) with 8:22 to go. 
• Ohio Dominican combined on an 8-0 run with McKitrick scoring four points with MacDonald and Webb each adding two points. The Panthers pulled within 51-40 at the 5:50 mark and then ODU could not get the lead down to under double-digits. 

UP NEXT

• Ohio Dominican will host the Cavaliers of Walsh University on Tuesday (Jan. 2) evening at 7:30 PM in the second leg of their current three-game homestand.