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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In one of the biggest games in Davenport Athletics history, the men's basketball team dropped a 92-54 decision to NCAA D1 New Mexico Tuesday night in "The Pit".  The Lobos are receiving votes in the preseason AP and ESPN Coaches poll while the Panthers are No. 3 in the preseason NAIA Top 25 Poll.  DU will open their season on Friday, November 4 at 6:00pm when they host Northland International in the Panther Tip-Off Invitational.

A crowd of just under 13,000 people was on hand Tuesday night at "The Pit" in Albuquerque, NM where Davenport played the nationally ranked Lobos.  A late surge in the first half doomed any high hopes of the Panthers as New Mexico cruised to the 38-point win.

After a slow start saw the Panthers dig themselves a 14-4 deficit, DU strung together a tough 6:15 of basketball and midway through the first half had the margin down to just seven at 20-13 with 9:40 remaining.  The Lobos, playing their first exhibition contest of the year then closed the half on a 21-9 run to lead 41-22 heading into the locker room.

New Mexico connected on 16-19 free-throws in the opening 20 minutes as DU limited the Lobos to just 11 made field goals.  The home team came out even hotter in the second half however as they nailed their first three shots from behind the arc to increase their lead to as many as 26 at 52-26.

New Mexico never really looked back from there as they were able to keep the pressure on Davenport throughout the remainder of the half eventually winning 92-54.

JaVontae Ford led the Panthers with 14 points on 6/17 shooting while connecting on two shots from behind the arc.  Seven other players posted at least four points led by a trio with six by James Humphrey, Lonnie Fairfax and Damacious White.

Post-Game Quotes - Head Coach Burt Paddock 

On early foul trouble and overall play of team - "Early in the game New Mexico took over the offensive boards which in turn caused us to foul under the basket numerous times. We need to do a better job underneath the basket and I know leaving here tonight our guys have a bad taste in their mouths on their performance and will use their experiances tonight as we head into our home opener on Friday."

Post-Game Notes

New Mexico is now 60-6 all-time in exhibition games...The official attendance was 12,978 which is the third best attendance for an exhibition contest dating back to 2002...Davenport was out-rebounded 50-28...The early parts of each half doomed the Panthers as the Lobos opened each 20 minutes on 11-4 runs.