Box Score
LIVONIA, Mich. – The Davenport Panthers traveled to Madonna University tonight with one goal in mind. With a win DU would secure the regular season WHAC Championship and hang the program's first ever banner. A slow offensive start did not get the team off track as they secured a championship with a 72-48 victory over the Crusaders.
James Nelson got to the Panthers on the board early with a layup, but the team would not score again until the 14:22 mark on another Nelson layup. DU seemed to be out of rhythm as point guard
Lonnie Fairfax had to spend most of the second half on the bench with two fouls.
JaVontae Ford, however, came off the bench and gave the Panthers the offensive spark they needed.
Ford came into the contest needing only three 3-pointers to set a new Davenport mark for most 3-pointers in a season. He did that and more hitting 4 treys in the first half giving him 16 of the team's 34 points in the first half. DU took a 16 point lead into the break.
The Panthers extended their lead in the second half pulling ahead by as many as 28 points. Defensively, DU showed why they are ranked first in the nation in scoring defense allowing just 48 points by the Crusaders. On average they allow just over 58 points. On the evening Ford and Nelson led the offense with 25 and 19 points, respectively.
James Humphrey had a double double with 11 points and 15 rebounds
A big factor in the victory was Davenport's selfishness on the boards. DU outrebounded Madonna 50 to 36. With tonight's win the Panthers have secured the program's first WHAC Championship and have also earned home court advantage throughout the WHAC tournament, which begins Feb. 22.
Post-Game Comments
JaVontae Ford on setting new single season record for 3-pt FG made –
“It feels good to have set the record, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates. Every 3-pointer I've probably made this year has come from either the post players or the guards so this is more of a team accomplishment.”
James Humphrey on how it feels to win the WHAC Championship and what the focus in now –
“We're excited about it. We look up at the wall every day and see that none of them say men's basketball. It's great to finally get one up there. Our focus now is simple—win. We have bigger fish to fry and are working for a tournament championship and a national championship.”
Burt Paddock on what it means to the seniors to win the program's first championship –
“We really appreciate the opportunity to coach them. When they came here we made a pact that we wanted to hang a banner and it's taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. We're just really excited for them to be able to leave this legacy.”
Post-Game Notes
Ford's six 3-pt field goals tonight give him 72 on the season…he broke Ryan Farmer's old record of 68 set in the 2006-07 season…the Panthers are now 14-1 in the WHAC and will travel to UNOH on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. match-up.
