BELOIT, Wis. - Beloit's men's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season Tuesday night with a 76-63 loss to Dominican (Ill.) University in a game that featured five lead changes. Dominican converted 54 percent (32-59) of their shots, including 45 percent (9-20) from 3-point range, while Beloit made 42 percent (25-59) of their field goals.

The Buccaneers (0-1) scored the game's first basket on a layup by Azeez Ganiyu, but Dominican (1-0) would answer with a 3-pointer by Lathan Lewis on the other end. The two teams then traded baskets several times, with Ganiyu giving Beloit a 17-16 lead on a free throw mid-way through the first half. Dominican then went on a 16-4 run to take the first double-digit lead of the contest, before taking a 19-point lead into halftime.

Beloit tried to set the tone in the second half, scoring the first basket on a breakaway dunk by Jabari Scuefield, which was the first of five consecutive points the Buccaneers would score to start the period. Beloit would cut the lead to 12 in the final few minutes, but that is as close as they would get the rest of the night.

Ganiyu led Beloit with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Brian Rusch scored 11 points and Scuefield added 10 and seven rebounds. More than half of Beloit's points (36) came in the paint.

Dominican was led by Joshua West, who led all scorers with 22 points and nine rebounds. Jacob Riedl added 13 points and nine boards, while Jared Bandi finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Beloit will try to rebound on Friday when they'll travel to Finlandia University. That game will begin at 6:30 p.m. Easter Time in Hancock, Mich.