COLUMBUS - The Ohio Dominican Panthers men's basketball team will return to Alumni Hall for a three-game homestand and four of the final six games, beginning with two G-MAC contests on Sunbury Road this week. 

The Panthers and Pioneers of Malone University will meet Thursday (Feb. 9) at 7:30 PM on Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night before hosting the Ashland Eagles on Saturday (Feb. 11) afternoon at 3:00 PM. 

GAME NOTES (PDF)

OPENING TIPOFF

• Ohio Dominican was on the short end of two decisions over the weekend down South, a 68-52 loss at Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday and a 51-44 defeat at Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday. 
• The Panthers open their three-game homestand with a 7-14 overall record and is sitting with a 3-11 G-MAC mark entering the final three weeks of the regular season. 
• Zach Szul (Waterville, Ohio) averaged 9.5 points with 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last weekend. Szul scored 13 points in the KWC game with six rebounds at Trevecca.  Szul leads the Panthers with 15.4 points and 2.9 assists per game. In 14 conference games, Szul is scoring 16.9 points per game (3rd in the G-MAC) and has made 60-of-67 free throws (89.6% - best in the league). 
• Szul has 954 career points, putting him 46 short of the 1,000 point plateau and the 27th player in the 1,000 point club. He is the current active G-MAC leader in free throw % (.836), is 3rd in points per game (14.03) and 4th in field goal % (.424).
• Jarius Jones (Gahanna, Ohio) added 9.5 points per game in two road games, adding nine free throws, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals. Against TNU, he led the Panthers with ten points. Jones is 2nd among active G-MAC players with 1.9 offensive rebounds, 6th with 1.22 steals and 9th in 5.44 rebounds per game. 
• Keshawn Heard (Newark, Ohio) and Sean Marks (Delaware, Ohio) each added an eight point average while Heard grabbed 6.0 rebounds per game and led the team with a .583 field goal % (7-12). Marks made four of ODU's seven threes last week. 
• The Panthers rank third in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with a 76.3 free throw percentage and holding teams to .431 from the floor. ODU is fourth among the G-MAC schools with a .323 three point percentage on defense. 
• In 12 games at Alumni Hall, Ohio Dominican is 6-6 overall and scoring 69.7 points per game. The Panthers are shooting .424 overall and .333 from deep. 
• Ohio Dominican is 2nd for the G-MAC in the month of February with a .351 field goal defense (39-111) and fourth in three point defense (17-59). 
• Last Saturday, Ohio Dominican held Trevecca to 19 points in the first half, the best defensive half since February 7, 2020 against Wright St.-Lake (17 points), where an opponent scored under 20 points in a half. For the entire game, the Trojans shot 28.1%, the first time since Feb. 13, 2018 at Hillsdale with an opponent under 30%. 
• With Malone winning the first matchup of the 2022-23 season last month in Canton (85-76), the Pioneers are 14-5 against the Panthers as they have won the last seven games in the series. 
• The Panthers have won three of the 19 matchups in the D2 era against the Ashland Eagles. With two games happening in the G-MAC period, the Eagles have taken the last five contests, dating back to February 2017. 

ABOUT THE PIONEERS

• Malone is 13-7 overall and 8-6 in the Great Midwest as the season enters the final stretch.
• The Pioneers dispatched the Northwood Timberwolves 84-54 last Saturday at home.
• Since sitting at 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference when the Pioneers and Panthers met, Malone is 4-5 in conference games.
• Four players average double figures for Malone.
• Justin Miller leads the Pios and the G-MAC with 19.8 points per game and he also leads the major team categories of assists (4.4 APG) and steals (1.6 SPG). He averages 21.2 points in G-MAC games and tallies  ten games of more than 20 points and three of them with 30 points.
• Bo Myers sits behind Miller in 2nd among the Pioneers and all G-MAC players with 17.9 points per game. He also is 2nd in the G-MAC with 8.4 rebounds per game. Myers has 16.4 points and 8.35 rebounds per game in conference games (2nd in the league). Myers leads all active G-MAC players with 15.3 career PPG.
• Levi Seiler (10.9 PPG) and Simon Blair (10.6 PPG) have double-digit averages.
• Malone averages 78.3 points scored, 38.4 rebounds, and is shooting .480 overall (.379 from deep). The opposition is scoring 69.7 points per game, grabbing 31.2 rebounds and holding a .438 clip shooting (.341 from three).
• The Pioneers lead the G-MAC in rebounding and rebounding margin (+7.70) while 2nd in scoring offense and three pointers per game (9.75).

ABOUT THE EAGLES

• Ashland is 15-8 overall and 11-4 in the G-MAC, sitting one game behind the first place tie of Hillsdale and Walsh.
• The Eagles lost 86-85 to Wilberforce on Monday, snapping a three-game winning streak. Brandon Haraway, the reigning Great Midwest Player of
  the Week, leads the Eagles and is tied for 7th in the G-MAC with 15.4 points per game. He is shooting .520 overall and .817 at the charity stripe to go with 3.6 assists per game (2nd on the team). He scored 24.5 points and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game last week while going 25-of-29 (86.2%) from the free-throw line, 11-of-20 (55.0%) from the floor in two wins. He has seven games of at least 20  points this season.
• Victor Searls averages 13.0 points per game and 5.6 rebounds while shooting .633 overall. He has the best field goal % of the G-MAC and 9th in all of D2. Within G-MAC games, he is shooting at a .648 clip - the highest among the conference.
• Simon Wheeler has a stat line of 9.6 points, 6.55 assists, 1.65 steals and 3.4 rebounds per game. Wheeler is 1st in assists and 2nd in steals within the league and 9th in D2 for dimes. In three different games, Wheeler has at least 10 assists for AU.
• Maceo Williams is the leading rebounder with 5.8 rebounds while scoring 11.6 points per game with a .663 field goal %.
• The Eagles average 75.3 points scored, 35.9 rebounds, and is shooting .505 overall (.352 from deep). The opposition is scoring 65.6 points per game, grabbing 31.6 rebounds and holding a .404 clip shooting (.331 from three).
• Within the G-MAC, the Eagles are tops in the categories of field goal %, field goal % defense and defensive rebounds per game.
• Ashland slots ninth in D2 for field goal percentage, 11th for defensive rebounds and 16th for field goal % defense.

UP NEXT

Ohio Dominican will host Lake Erie next Thursday (Feb. 16) to close out the current homestand at 7:30 PM against the Storm. 

Contact: Tyler Stotsky
stotskyt@ohiodominican.edu