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BABSON PARK, Fla. – The No. 6 ranked Davenport men's basketball team picked up a 91-71 neutral court win over Crossroads League opponent Goshen College tonight at the Webber International Classic in Babson Park, FL. The Panthers, now 12-2 on the season, will play the host Warriors on Sunday at 1:00pm. The game can be heard live on the Davenport Athletics Network.

11 different players finished with points on the night as Davenport built an early lead, saw Goshen get within six midway through the second half, and pull away late to improve to 6-1 in non-conference games this season. Leading the Panthers in scoring was Javontae Ford who finished with 14 as he was joined in double-figures by four others, Ryan Dame and Dominez Burnett with 13,  Kyle Stidom with 11 and Derek Brooks with 10.

After Davenport fell behind 6-4 early on, the Panthers rallied with a 7-0 run and followed with an 8-0 one just a few minutes later to open a 24-9 lead. DU hit three shots from long range in the opening spurt as they got makes from Sean Hill, Ryan Dame and Thomas Drew to build the early lead. Unfortunately for DU, the 3-point shot then became the Maple Leafs best friend as Goshen would go on to nail seven in the opening half to keep them within striking distance.

After Goshen had cut the lead to just nine at 33-24, Derek Brooks caught fire and went on a personal 8-0 run that was finished off by back to back deep balls to up the DU lead to 17 that would eventually grow to as many as 18 on a 3-pointer from Kyle Stidom with just over a minute to play in the first.

When it looked as if the Panthers would cruise to an easy victory in their first of a two-game stretch, the Maple Leafs had other ideas as they got the lead down to just six at 61-55 with 11:25 to play. After a timeout by head coach Burt Paddock, DU ran off 14 of the next 16 points to put Goshen away. Igniting the run was four straight points from both Ryan Dame and JaVontae Ford of which two came off a nice steal on an inbounds play by Ford.

Davenport had two players finish with new season highs as Dame posted 13 points and Kyle Stidom finished with 11. The Panthers shot just 42.9% from the field which is their fourth lowest of the season as the Maple finished 48.9% as DU allowed them to make only three 3-pointers in the second half after making seven in the opening 20 minutes.

Other statistical leaders for Davenport were DeArmond Davis with nine rebounds, Gabe VanderJagt and JaVontae Ford with four assists and Ford also chipped in seven steals. DU will be in action on Sunday at 1:00pm when they play Webber International University here in Babson Park.

Post-Game Notes

Davenport is now 6-3 under Burt Paddock against teams from the Crossroads League (formerly the MCC)…DU improves to 4-5 all-time against Goshen and 3-1 under Paddock…DU has now won their last five games in the state of Florida
 
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