Box Score GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Davenport jumped out to a 16-point halftime lead and despite a strong rally by the Wildcats of Daemen College, the Panthers hung on for the 85-75 win on Thursday night.  DU, ranked No. 3 in the NAIA D2 Top 25 Poll, improves to 5-0 on the year with the win over DC who is receiving votes in the same poll.  Davenport travels to Washington (Pa.) this weekend for a tournament in which they take on Muskingum (Ohio) on Saturday.

James Nelson came within one made free-throw of tying the Student Center record as he led the Panthers with a 24 point effort on 5-10 shooting from the field and a sizzling 13-16 from the charity stripe.  Red-Shirt sophomore JaVontae Ford chipped in 20 points off the bench as he connected on a pair of long balls and was a perfect 6-6 from the line.

The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead only to see Davenport score nine of the next 11 points to lead 9-4 at the 16:07 mark.  Daemen (3-2) got the lead down to 14-12 on a steal and layup with 13:43 remaining but DU used an 18-1 run over the next 5:44 to extend the margin to 19.  Highlighting the run was consecutive 3-pointers from Mario Redmond and James Nelson.

The Wildcats kept up the pressure and got back to within 14 but DU closed with a deep three from Gabe VanderJagt to lead 41-26 at the break.  DU outscored Daemen 16-10 in the paint and the Panther bench accounted for 16 points as well in the opening 20 minutes.

Daemen, which came into the game having won three of its first four games, started the second half on a 21-13 run to get the lead down to single digits at 54-46 where it had not been since the 12:04 mark of the opening half. JaVontae Ford's three-point play ended the Wildcat run and helped start a Panther run of 12-2 to push the lead back to 18.  When it looked as if DU would cruise at home again,
Daemen's Casey Sheehan caught fire from behind the arc and nailed three consecutive three pointers which helped DC trim the margin down to just seven at 76-69. 

They would get no closer as the free-throw shooting of James Nelson down the stretch was too much.

DU outrebounded the Wildcats 51-29 and limited them to just 22.2% from behind the arc.  The Panthers held their leading scorer Dom Mazzocchi to just four points which is 16 below his season average. Statistical leaders for DU were Nelson with 9 rebounds, Fairfax with four assists and Humphrey with a pair of blocks.

Post-Game Quotes - Assistant Coach Taylor Langley

On holding Mazzocchi to just four points - We knew coming in that he could score it and he was our focal point defensively and it was a great team effort to contain him and we did a great job as a defensive unit

On strong free throw shooting - It has not come to a point in games thus far where it has mattered and we have a lot of senior leadership and it was their turn to do that and they did just that from the free-throw line tonight.

Post-Game Notes

The win over Daemen is the first win vs. an opponent from the American Mideast Conference (AMC) under Burt Paddock...James Nelson's 16 free throw attempts ties his own record for most attempted in a game...His 13 made free throws is 2nd most in a game at student center...Davenport is now 41-5 all-time in the Student Center and has never lost a non-conference game in the building

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