Feb. 3, 2010

Box Score

DEARBORN, Mich. - #13 Davenport followed up their big win over rival Cornerstone last week with a tough 80-64 road win against UM Dearborn on Wednesday night. The Panthers have now won 8 games in a row and are 20-5 on the year and 9-0 in league play.

The game did not start out too well for the Panthers as the Wolves hit two back to back shots to take a 5-2 lead after an opening basket from Lorenzo Ecford (Chicago, Ill.). UMD actually scored the next seven points after Lorenzo's bucket but DU countered with six straight points of their own to lead 8-7.

The lead would then go over to the host and stay with the Wolves for most of the opening minutes until DU fought back to tie the game at 12-12 when Gabe VanderJagt (Rockford, Mich.) converted two jump shots with 11:59 left to play in the first.

Davenport eventually got things together with less than 6:00 to play in the half and they slowly extended their lead behind the play of junior Nathan Cox (Flushing, Mich.) and Ecford.

The lead would grow to as many as 11 (36-25) with just over a minute to play, but free-throws in the final minute allowed Dearborn to crawl back within double-digits and DU took a 38-29 lead into the locker room.

Ecford continued his solid play in the opening minutes of the second half as the junior scored seven of the Panthers' first 10 points to lift DU to a 15 point lead just 2:59 into the half. The lead would hover around 8-12 points for the next six minutes but starting at the 12:06 mark, DU used 10 straight points to increase the margin to 18 at 65-47.

The final minutes saw each team trade baskets for the final outcome of 80-64 in favor of the Panthers.

Davenport, which came into the game allowing only 62 points per contest, was again solid on the defensive end holding the Wolves to just 64 points on the night. DU forced 22 turnovers from the home team and held them to just 43% shooting from the floor.

Ecford led the way offensively for Davenport with 24 points and he also pulled down a game high 12 rebounds. Chipping in with 11 points was Mario Scott (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and with 10 was James Nelson (New Haven, Mich.).

The win lifts #13 Davenport to their 20th win of the year as they have reached that milestone for the second straight season. The Panthers also improve to 9-0 in WHAC play with a road game vs. Madonna set for Saturday at 3:00 PM in Livonia.