Site: Grand Rapids, Mich. (DU Student Center)
Score: No. 10 Davenport 94, Kuyper 58
Records: DU (1-0), KC (0-2)
Next DU event: Saturday, Nov. 2 – vs. St. Francis – 5:30 p.m.
 
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A 10-2 start to the game followed by a halftime score of 54-28 was more than enough to carry the No. 10 ranked Panthers to a season opening 94-58 victory over Kuyper College. The win carries head coach Burt Paddock and his team into Saturday's Panther Tip-Off Tournament finale against the winner of St. Francis (Ind.) and St. Francis (Ill.) at 5:30 p.m.

Dominez Burnett and Mike Betcher each finished with a game high 17 points as they led the No. 10 ranked Panthers to a season opening victory over Kuyper College in the Panther Tip-Off Tournament. JaVontae Ford (15) and Nick Gamble (13) also found double-figures while Jon Prins led the battle on the glass with eight.

JaVontae Ford got the season started quickly as the red-shirt senior recorded eight straight points for the Panthers as they built an early 8-2 lead just 1:29 into the contest. Dominez Burnett scored the next bucket, which was part of his team high 11 points in the first half to up the lead to eight and the rout was on.

Nine different players scored for DU in the opening 20 minutes and the Panthers got 28 of their 54 from the bench including 10 from freshman Nick Gamble and seven from Mike Betcher.

After shooting 52.9% from the field in the opening half, DU came out a little cold in the second as Kuyper cut into the margin and had the lead down to 23 but it never got any closer eventually growing to as many as 36 late in the game

Davenport finished the season opener 30-64 from the field while limiting the Cougars to just 30.0% shooting. The DU bench ended up outscoring the Kuyper bench 53-16 while the Panthers scored 20 points directly off Cougar turnovers.

The Panthers will return to action on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. vs. the winner of the St. Francis (Ind.)/St. Francis (Ill.) matchup later tonight. Kuyper, who was led by 17 points and eight rebounds from Kyle Hoek, will play in the consolation game at 3:30

Post-Game Notes
Davenport is now 4-0 all-time against Kuyper all of which have come since Burt Paddock was named the coach in 2008…This is the first time in the four meetings that the Cougars have scored 40 points (36, 33, 39 in their previous three)…Davenport is now 6-0 under Paddock in home and season openers…
 
Men's Basketball Contact: Aaron Sagraves | 616-554-5045 | asagraves@davenport.edu
DU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
Men's Basketball: Twitter | Facebook