TIFFIN, Ohio - In the 2022-23 season finale on Saturday (Feb. 25), the Ohio Dominican Panthers men's basketball team went out with a stellar performance by junior guard Zach Szul (Waterville, Ohio). 

The Panthers fell to the Tiffin Dragons 63-52, despite 30 points and ten rebounds by Szul - his first career double-double. 

BOX SCORE NOTES

• Szul finished with 30 points in the game on 11-of-26 shooting. He made two-of-eight attempts from three-point range and was six-of-seven at the free throw line. The Waterville, Ohio native grabbed ten rebounds, for a career-best in that category. 
  • Szul scored 21 points in the first half of ODU's 26 points. He was eight-of-13 on the floor, with a perfect four-of-four at the free throw line. 
  • He has three games of at least 30-points this season - he was tied for the G-MAC lead in that category. 
• Jarius Jones (Gahanna, Ohio) and Brandon Gibson II (Dayton, Ohio) each scored four points and had six rebounds in the game. Jones had three offensive rebounds, two assists and one steal. 
• Keshawn Heard (Newark, Ohio) came down with three rebounds and a team-high three assists. 
• Kevin James (Massillon, Ohio) came off the bench with five points and three rebounds. He made two field goals with one three pointer. 
• Sean Marks (Delaware, Ohio) and Nate Webb (Lafayette, Indiana) each made a triple for three points scored. 
• Caleb Laurich (Akron, Ohio) had a final stat line of three points and five rebounds. 
• Ohio Dominican shot 34.5% for the day, making 20-of-58 shots overall. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tiffin scored the first five points before Szul single-handedly tied the game at five in the first two and a half minutes. Once again, Tiffin went on a 6-0 run for an 11-5 lead. Szul scored the next four points with Laurich knotting the score at 11 with 12:41 left before halftime. 
• The Dragons regained a 14-11 lead before the under-12 media timeout. After the timeout, Laurich, Gibson and Szul combined to put ODU up 18-14 near the halfway point of the first half. 
• Tiffin tied the game at 20 and then opened the lead to as many as eight in the final 7:50 of the half. They led 34-26 at the halftime break. 
• ODU came out in the second half on an 8-1 run to close the gap to 35-34 at the under-16 timeout. Marks and Webb had their three pointers on that run. 
• The home team, dressed in green, regained control with a 9-2 run and opened an 43-36 lead with 12:25 to go. 
• Ohio Dominican wasn't done yet as they responded with nine of the next ten points - taking an 45-44 lead on a Szul jumper with 10:42 left. 
• Over the next six minutes, Tiffin went on a 14-0 run for a 58-45 lead and won the game 63-52. 

The Panthers finished the season with an 9-18 record with a 5-15 conference mark. 

Contact: Tyler Stotsky
stotskyt@ohiodominican.edu