Box Score

ADRIAN, Mich. - A 52-31 scoring advantage in the second half was more than enough to help No. 3 Davenport recover from a 3-point halftime deficit as they came back to defeat host Siena Heights on Saturday night. The Panthers rebounded from just their third loss of the season with an 81-63 win to improve to 21-3 on the year and 11-1 in league action. DU hosts Concordia on Wednesday at 7:30pm.

Red-shirt sophomore JaVontae Ford came off the bench to pour in a game high 22 points while James Nelson finished with 17 and Lonnie Fairfax 16 to help DU pick up a crucial road win in league play.  Fairfax finished a perfect 10-10 from the foul line and dished out a team high seven assists while Nelson pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Panthers.

Siena Heights (6-18, 3-9 WHAC) jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead but a three-point play by senior James Humphrey tied it back up at 5-5 with 16:00 to play in the first.  The would be first of nine ties to go along with six lead changes during the opening half as neither team saw a lead of more than five.  After a JaVontae Ford layup with 2:29 knotted the score at 29, the Saints closed by scoring the final three points to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room. DU struggled from the field shooting just 29% while the Saints were 11-26 (42%) from the floor.

The second half had a similar feel for the first 5:43 as Siena Heights rallied from five down to tie the score at 40-40 on a pair of free-throws.  On the very next possession, Lonnie Fairfax connected on a runner in the lane to give DU the lead for good as they slowly pulled away from the Saints. Leading 48-47 with 11:16 to play, the Panthers used an 11-0 spurt to push the margin to 12, the largest of the game up to that point and they extended it to 19 on a 3-point play by Lonnie Fairfax with 2:10 to play.

Davenport scored 52 points in the second half as they Panthers shot 67% from the field while connecting 5-8 from behind the arc and 19-23 from the foul line.

Post-Game Quotes - Head Coach Burt Paddock and JaVontae Ford
 
Paddock on team's defense and scoring surge in 2^nd half - “It wasn't so much our offense as it was our defense.  We did a good job getting back and forming a wall and made them take contested shots. When we began to get stops, it led to easy transition baskets.”

Ford on the good shooting in the 2^nd half - “Once we saw a few go in, we got our confidence and began to make some jumpers and away we went.”

Post-Game Notes

The win lifts Davenport to 9-8 in their all-time series against Siena Heights and the Panthers have won the last seven meetings…DU is now 3-6 all-time in Adrian against the Saints…Lonnie Fairfax had 7 assists as the senior broke his the single season record held by Sai-Quan Griffith; Lonnie now has 139…JaVontae Ford is now 6^th in total points in a single season and is just six points from fifth place


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