Dec. 8, 2009

Box Score

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - DU held Concordia to just 40 points tonight as they opened conference play with a convincing 74-40 win. Davenport is now 9-2 on the season as they will host MIAA opponent Olivet College on Thursday at the Student Center.

The first five minutes of the game were very sloppy on both sides of the ball as only nine combined points were put up with DU leading 5-4. After a basket by the Cardinals gave them their only lead of the game, DU came right back with an 11-0 run to take a 16-6 lead and never looked back.

The run was started by two free-throws by Nathan Cox (Flushing, Mich.) and was finished via the same way with two free-throws by Gabe VanderJagt (Rockford, Mich.) at the 11:18 mark forcing the Cardinals into a timeout.

CUAA would manage only 12 more points for the remainder of the half as DU increased its lead to 14 at halftime at 32-18. The Cardinals shot a miserable 17% from the floor as DU forced 13 opening half turnovers.

Four quick points by the Panthers to open the second half increased the lead to 18 and after CUAA cut the lead to 14, DU went on a 22-9 run over the next 8:38 that was capped off by a 3-point field goal from James Nelson (New Haven, Mich.) to open up a 30-point lead at 61-31.

The lead would hover around that mark for the remainder of the game which would finally end at a 34 point margin of 74-40.

Concordia did improve their shooting percentage but DU still held them to just 23.9% from the field while the Panthers hit 27 of 57 of their shots while out-rebounding the Cardinals 44-35.

Nathan Cox finished with a double-double for DU as he posted 17 points and 12 rebounds. Max Prendergast (Grand Rapids, Mich.) also finished with a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Gabe VanderJagt finished with 9 points, 3 assists and swiped 6 steals, which is a new Student Center record, in the win.

DU will host MIAA opponent Olivet College on Thursday night at the Student Center. The game will be broadcast live on the DAN with the pre-game show set for 6:45 PM.

Post-Game Notes

Davenport is now 11-4 in WHAC Play under Head Coach Burt Paddock which is five more wins than the previous three years combined...The win over Concordia lifts DU to three straight wins over the Cardinals...Davenport is now 16-10 against teams from the state of Michigan under Paddock...When holding their opponents under 60 points, the Panthers are 15-0 the last two seasons.