FUNDRAISING PAGE IN HONOR OF DAMON GOODWIN

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – A pair of men's basketball teams from both the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) and Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) will soon join together for a highly-anticipated season tip-off event, beginning Saturday, Nov. 14 in the Rike Center at Otterbein University.

The newly-created NCAC/OAC Challenge will feature Otterbein along with Capital University, Ohio Wesleyan University and Wittenberg University in what will be a two-day event.

Capital and Wittenberg will play at 5 p.m. in the Rike Center come Saturday evening with Otterbein and Ohio Wesleyan squaring off around 7 p.m. The event will then resume on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at Wittenberg, where Capital and OWU match up at 6 p.m. before the Cardinals and host Tigers play in the second contest, scheduled for approximately 8 p.m.

The occasion will also serve as an awareness event for leukemia as all four schools rally around Capital head coach Damon Goodwin, who was recently diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia, a rare but highly treatable cancer of the blood. Goodwin has since taken a leave of absence and is expected to return once healthy.

Together, the universities plan to raise critical funds for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) to show support as Goodwin enters treatment. Flat donations will be collected, wristbands with the inscription "No one fights alone" will be sold for $5, and all ticket sales from both sites will be donated to the cause. In addition, fans will see players from all four teams wearing orange leukemia awareness t-shirts instead of their traditional pre-game attire.

Fans are encouraged to come help launch the 2015-16 basketball season while also contributing to funding therapies, treatments and saving lives. LLS's continued advancements over the years are responsible for the blood cancer survival rate doubling, tripling and, in some cases, even quadrupling. In addition to blood cancer, LLS supported therapies are now helping patients with other forms of cancer.

All donations, which are tax deductible, go on to support LLS research, patient services, advocacy, public and professional education and community services. CLICK HERE to donate through the online event page in honor of Coach Goodwin, and visit lls.org for more information about the voluntary health organization.