Feb. 13, 2010

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Cold shooting and a stingy Aquinas defense doomed the #14 ranked Panthers on Saturday afternoon as they fell 69-53 to the Saints in the Student Center. The loss is the first in the regular season at home for Davenport since the Student Center opened in 2008.

Looking to sweep their cross-town rivals for the first time in school history, the Panthers were unable to overcome another poor shooting effort as the Saints were clicking on all cylinders in the upset.

Aquinas jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first 2:40 of the game only to see DU rattle off eight of the next 12 capped off by a three ball from Mario Scott (Grand Rapids, Mich.) to get the Panthers back to within three (11-8).

The Saints then hit four of their next five shots from the field while going on an 11-2 run to increase their margin to 12 with 7:53 to play in the first. Davenport continued to struggle from the field and foul line as they were unable to get the score back to single digits for the remainder of the half and went into the locker room trailing 41-26.

DU made just eight shots from the field in the opening 20 minutes and was only 32% from the floor while the Saints were on fire finishing 54% (13/24) while also connecting on four deep balls.

Aquinas opened the second half hot again and increased their lead to 16 just 4:23 in but DU slowly crawled back into the game behind Nathan Cox (Flushing, Mich.), Max Prendergast (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Mario Scott to get within 10 with 6:46 remaining.

Davenport had numerous chances to cut down the lead even more after four straight stops on defense but the Panthers were unable to convert layups on their offensive end and AQ pushed the lead back to 14 on their next two possessions. The Saints held tough down the stretch and eventually won by the final of 69-53.

Davenport never led once in the game as they were dealt their first ever regular season loss at the Student Center. The Panthers did not improve any in the second half from the field finishing 32% (17/52).

Leading Davenport offensively was Nathan Cox who scored 12 points as James Nelson pulled down a game high 8 rebounds. Aquinas' John Lierman set a new Student Center record for points in a game with 29 breaking the old mark of Allen Durham of Grace Bible College (27).

Davenport will hit the road on Wednesday as they travel to Indiana Tech to take on the Warriors. Tip off is set for 7:30 and the game can be heard live on the DAN.

Post-Game Notes

With the loss, Davenport is now 21-2 all-time in the Student Center...Under Coach Burt Paddock, the Panthers are now just 5-13 when trailing at halftime...They are also 20-6 in WHAC Regular Season games dating back to last year under Paddock...Nathan Cox continues to add to his all-time points mark as the junior now has 1081