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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Nathan Cox led DU in the first half and handed it over to teammate James Nelson in the second as #16 Davenport improved to 18-3 on the year and 5-2 in league action with a 78-62 win over Aquinas College.  DU is now only one game back in the league standings and will have a chance to tie for that lead when they travel to #2 Cornerstone on Wednesday at 8:00pm.

Nathan Cox (Flushing, Mich.) scored 20 of his game high 27 points in the opening half and James Nelson (New Haven, Mich.) poured in all of his 17 points in the second to lift Davenport to their 6th straight win overall.  Davenport posted a 63.9% shooting percentage in the second half while outscoring AQ 43-32.

Shooting woes and Aquinas' tenacious defense was the story early on for Davenport, who came into the game as the #16 ranked team in the country.  DU missed their first five shots and fell behind the Saints 6-0 before a Nathan Cox (Flushing, Mich.) layup with 15:18 on the clock gave the Panthers their first points.

After a three-point play by Cox less than three minutes later tied the game at 8-8, Davenport used a 13-10 run to take a 21-18 lead with 7:29 to play in the opening half.  It would be their largest of the half until two free-throws by Zach Yeagy (Alexandria, Ind.) gave the home team a 35-30 at the break.

A late first half injury to senior Nathan Cox (Flushing, Mich.) dampened the mood heading into the locker room but the all-time leading scorer at Davenport came out with a freshly taped ankle and continued on his outstanding effort in the first half that saw him account for 20 points.

The effort that Cox put forth in the first half (20 points and 3 rebounds on 8/11 shooting) was matched by junior James Nelson (New Haven, Mich.) in the second.  Nelson scored the opening points of the second half on free-throws which was followed by a long ball from Cox to push the lead to double-digits at 40-30.

Aquinas did manage to stay alive with some hot shooting of their own but still trailed by three (44-41) with 13:51 on the clock. Over the next 4:09, DU used an 11-5 run to increase the margin back to double-digits at 55-44 and the spurt was finshed off by an alley-oop dunk from James Humphrey (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

With the Saints continuing to fight back, it was James Nelson (New Haven, Mich.) who took the team on his back and scored 11 of his 17 points in the final 3:25 to lift DU to the impressive 16 point win.

Junior James Humphrey (Fort Wayne, Ind.) also posted double-figures with 14 points as he also led the team in rebounding with 6.  The Panthers limited the visiting Saints to just 41% shooting and outscored their opponents 26-15 off turnovers.

#16 Davenport will meeti their biggest challenge of the season on Wednesday, January 19 when they travel to #2 Cornerstone for a huge mid-season conference showdown.  A win by the Panthers would vault DU into a tie atop the league standings. Game time is set for 8:00pm at Mol Arena on the campus of Cornerstone University.