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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport men's basketball team will play in their first ever WHAC Championship game against Lourdes University on Monday night.  The matchup is slated for a 7:30pm tip inside the DU Student Center.  Lourdes (17-14) is the seventh seed in the WHAC Tournament while Davenport (28-4) is the top seed.  Both teams have clinched a berth in the upcoming NAIA National Tournament in Point Lookout, Mo.
 
How they got here
 
Davenport, who finished the season in first with a 16-2 conference record, defeated Siena Heights 103-65 in the WHAC Quarterfinals and then beat #18 Indiana Tech 91-59 to advance to the finals. Lourdes finished seventh in conference with a 9-9 conference record upset #RV and second-seeded Cornerstone in the Quarterfinals and then defeated the sixth-seed Concordia 62-58 in the Semifinals.
 
Closer look at Davenport
 
In their two WHAC Tournament games the Panthers are averaging 97 points a game and allowing only 63 points per game. James Nelson is averaging 22 points in the two games after posting 28 points in the Quarterfinals against Siena Heights. Lonnie Fairfax set a new school record with 18 assists in the Panthers win over Siena Heights and added six more against Indiana Tech. The Panthers had five players score in double-digits in their win over Siena Heights including Gabe VanderJagt who has averaged 17.5 points in the two tournament games off the bench.
 
Closer look at Lourdes
 
John Willhite led the Gray Wolves with 18 points in their upset over Cornerstone and lead the Gray Wolves in points per game, rebounds per game and steals per game. He also added six rebounds to end the Golden Eagles run to 14 consecutive WHAC title games. Marcus Outlaw and Elvin Butler each scored in double-digits for Lourdes. Corey Harvey led the team with 10 rebounds and four assists. As a team the Gray Wolves shot 48% from the field. They made 21 of their 29 free throws but went 0-8 from three.
 
What's at stake?
 
With the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference having 10 teams in 2011-12, the regular season champion (Davenport) as well as the tournament champion (TBD) will get an automatic bid to the NAIA DII national tournament in Point Lookout, Mo. If that team is the same team (which it could be if Davenport wins), the tournament runner-up will receive the second. So no matter the outcome tonight, both of these teams will be representing the WHAC on the campus of the College of the Ozarks from March 7-13.
 
All-Time series
 
DU leads the all-time series 2-0. Davenport and Lourdes first met on January 4, 2012 in Sylvania, Ohio as LU is a first year member in the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference.  Davenport won that game 67-59 and then defeated the Gray Wolves 82-63 on February 4 at the Student Center.