COLUMBUS, Ohio - For the first time in the month of January and one of two road games this month, the Ohio Dominican Panthers men's basketball team will head on the road for a Great Midwest matchup this weekend. 

Ohio Dominican will see the Cavaliers of Walsh University for the second time in 12 days, this time on the road at Alumni Arena on Saturday (Jan. 13) afternoon at 3:00 PM. 

OPENING TIPOFF 

• The Panthers were defeated by Walsh 86-50 and Cedarville 81-63 last week at home. Ohio Dominican sits at 3-10 overall and 0-6 in the G-MAC with 14 games to go. 
• Luke Ruth (Grove City, Ohio) has scored in double figures in the last nine games after tallying a career-high 20 points against Cedarville. Last week, he led the Panthers with 17.5 points (tied for 8th in the G-MAC), 12 field goals and ten free throws (of 15 tries). Over the nine games in double figures, Ruth is scoring 15.7 points per contest. He has 3.5 assists per game this season, tied for sixth in the conference. 
• Sean McKitrick (Dayton, Ohio) also is sitting on a nine game streak of at least ten points. The freshman scored 21 points against Cedarville and totaled 17.0 points per game last week. He is tenth in January for scoring. Overall in the G-MAC, he is sixth for threes per game (2.2 3P/G) and 16.2 points per game.
• Caleb Brooks (Florence, Kentucky) and Zac Kimball (Sydney, Australia) combined for 31 rebounds in last week's slate which was 46% of ODU's rebounds. Kimball had 11.5 rebounds in January's contests, the third best mark in the G-MAC. He has at least ten rebounds in the last three games and 6.5 rebounds per game for the season. Brooks has carried a 12.3 point, 5.5 rebound and .489 field goal % through his first 11 games. 
• Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Michigan) returned to the rotation and averaged 6.5 points per game off the bench last week.
• Lachlan MacDonald (Dublin, Ohio)compiled a stat line of 6.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in his two contests last week. He scored a career-high of seven points, six rebounds and five assists against Cedarville - his first career start.
• Nate Webb (Lafayette, Indiana) has started every game for Ohio Dominican with 5.1 points per game and 3.2 rebounds. 
• Ohio Dominican is 3-18 against Walsh in the Division II era (2010-present) and have lost ten in a row against the Cavaliers. ODU has dropped ten consecutive contests in North Canton in the D2 era and 17 straight dating back to 2/19/04.
• The Panthers have made 158 free throws this season, the sixth most in the G-MAC. They have converted at least ten free throws in seven games this season. 
• ODU is currently is 6th in the G-MAC for past SOS (.567, 85-65) and 90th in Division II (of 301 schools). Going forward, the Panthers have the third easiest SOS in the league (97-93, .511). Overall, they slot ninth in the G-MAC with a .535 (182-158) cumulative SOS. 
• McKitrick and Ruth became the second duo this season for ODU to score at least 20 points in the same contest after scoring 21 and 20 points against Cedarville, respectively. JeJuan Weatherspoon (Columbus, Ohio) and Caleb Brooks had 35 points and 29 points each against Wilberforce on November 22. 
• Since the final non-conference game for ODU against Concord was canceled last week due to consideration for health and safety protocols, Ohio Dominican finished 3-4 in non-conference play. 
  • Some of the Panthers ranked in the top ten for the G-MAC in non-conference games...
    • JeJuan Weatherspoon - 22.3 points and 10.3 rebounds (in four games)
    • Sean McKitrick - 17.1 points (6th), 19 threes (5th), .373 three point % (6th)
    • Caleb Brooks - .554 field goal % (6th)
    • Luke Ruth - 4.29 assists (4th), .750 free throw % (10th), 5.14 defensive rebounds (6th)

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS

• Walsh enters this week with a 9-3 overall mark and 3-3 in the conference slate before playing at Malone on Thursday. 
• Walsh opened G-MAC play with three losses to #12 Ashland (82-72), Kentucky Wesleyan (67-60) and Thomas More (71-60). Their only conference win in 2023 had come against Tiffin (83-70).
• Since the Thomas More loss, Walsh has won four straight games with non-conference home wins over West Virginia Wesleyan (94-76) and Carnegie Mellon (75-65). In the 2024 calendar year, Walsh won at Ohio Dominican (86-50) and Lake Erie (60-53). 
• Kobe Mitchell scored 20 points and five three pointers against ODU last week and has a team-high 18.6 points per game and 37 three pointers. He is third in scoring and free throw percentage (85.7%) among the G-MAC rankings. 
• Garrison Keeslar scores 13.5 points and adds a G-MAC best 6.0 assists and a 4.7 assist/turnover ratio. The senior is the leading rebounder with 6.4 boards and 2.1 steals as well. Keeslar tallied 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the last meeting. 
• Zack Oddo gave Walsh 12 points and nine rebounds vs. ODU while Ayden Carter scored 11 points off the bench. 
• Walsh is scoring 78.9 points with a .471 field goal %, a .384 three point % and .749 free throw %. On defense, the Cavaliers are allowing 65.3 points and a shooting clip of .409 FG/.322 3P/.669 FT.