Dec. 30, 2009

Box Score

HOLLAND, Mich. - The Panthers pushed Hope late into the second half tonight, but the host Flying Dutchmen pulled away late to post a 77-62 win over DU. The loss drops Davenport to 12-5 on the year as they will resume WHAC play on Wednesday at Concordia.

Davenport earned their way into the championship game by defeating Grace Bible for the 3rd time this season but ran into a hot shooting Flying Dutchmen team tonight as Hope won their own tournament for the 5th straight time and 10th time in last 11 years.

It was a back and forth game to start as the two teams would trade the lead four times in the first 6:30 with neither team holding a lead of greater than four points. At the 13:07 mark, DU got a three-pointer from David Thompson (Grandville, Mich.) which gave them an 11-9 lead.

Hope then countered with a 12-2 run to take a 21-13 lead with 8:55 remaining. DU battled some foul trouble as both Lorenzo Ecford (Chicago, Ill.) and James Nelson (Detroit, Mich.) picked up their second fouls during the run.

Facing their largest deficit of the opening half, DU came back strong and scored eight straight points highlighted by an emphatic dunk from Ecford and two great defensive plays from Mario Scott (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Gabe VanderJagt (Rockford, Mich.).

After tying the game, DU would score nine of the next 11 points to make it a 17-2 run over a span of 5:18. Unfortunately, Hope then got hot from the field and scored the final 11 points of the half to take a 33-30 lead into the break.

The early part of the second half was a carbon copy of the first with each team playing great defense but DU was unable to get over the hump after tying the score at 35 all with 16:41 remaining.

Hope hit two free-throws on their next possession which would be a sign of things to come as the Dutchmen would never trail again. The Panthers fell behind by 11 at 50-39, but rallied to get within four at 50-46 but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the game.

Missed opportunities while the game was still within reach proved to be the difference as Hope pulled away late for the 15 point win.

DU was a miserable 35% (24/68) from the field as the home team finished with a flurry in the second half by nailing 14 of their 26 shots and 13 of their 15 free-throws (20/23 for the game).

DU was led by All-Tourney performer Lorenzo Ecford who scored 19 points and pulled down a team high 9 rebounds. Also finding double-digits were James Nelson (11), and Mario Scott and David Thompson who chipped in with 10 each.

DU will return to the court when they travel to Ann Arbor on Wednesday, January 6 where they will take on Concordia University. DU defeated the Cardinals earlier this season 74-40 inside the Student Center.