Dec. 29, 2009

Box Score

HOLLAND, Mich. - For the third time in as many tries this season, the Panthers defeated Grace Bible 69-61. The win came in the semifinals of the Russ DeVette Holiday Classic hosted by Hope College.

After picking up a good win over Culver-Stockton in the consolation game of the Marian tournament, DU returned to action tonight at Hope's DeVos Fieldhouse and grabbed a huge momentum win over the NCCAA #1 ranked Tigers.

Playing without leading scorer and rebounder Nathan Cox (Flushing, Mich.) for the 3rd straight game, DU jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead behind jumpers from James Nelson (New Haven, Mich.), Gabe VanderJagt (Rockford, Mich.) and Lorenzo Ecford (Chicago, Ill.).

Grace Bible would then heat up from behind the arc and used a 10-0 run to lead 14-9 with 12:53 remaining. The lead would grow as large as nine (23-14) but the Panthers slowly chipped away at the margin and got to within two at 23-21 on an inside bucket from Nelson.

DU then cooled off as the Tigers continued to stay hot and Grace upped their lead back to eight at 29-21. The Panthers refused to go into halftime trailing though and ended the opening 20 minutes on a 13-4 run to take a 34-33 lead into the locker room.

Grace, who started out on fire from the field, cooled off as the half went on and finished shooting just 46% while the Panthers held the edge at the free-throw line making six of seven.

DU opened the second half by increasing their lead to five on a layup from Lorenzo Ecford, but the Tigers rallied to tie as they scored five straight points.

There would then be five lead changes and two ties for the remainder of the game but DU took the lead for good on a jumper from Mike Tilmon (Detroit, Mich.) which gave the Panthers a 57-55 lead with 6:53 to play.

Leading 63-59, Davenport used two free-throws from Mario Scott (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and then got a huge 3-pointer from David Thompson to increase their lead to eight at 67-59 with just less than a minute to play.

Grace Bible would attempt many long range shots in the final seconds but were not able to hit any and DU held on for the 69-61 win.

DU's defense limited the Tigers to just 41% from the field after a torrid start and was able to hold Allen Durham (GBC's leading scorer of 23 points per game) to just 15 points and 2 offensive rebounds.

James Nelson led the offensive output for DU with 14 points and was closely followed by Mario Scott with 13, Gabe VanderJagt with 11 and Lorenzo Ecford with 10. Mike Tilmon was solid on the inside while playing 35 minutes and was able to finish with 7 points and 12 rebounds (5 offensive).

Davenport will play in the championship game on Wednesday at 8:00 PM against the host school Hope College. The DAN will broadcast the game beginning with a pre-game around 7:45 PM.