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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Davenport picked up a big 72-46 road win at Aquinas College on Saturday avenging one of their losses from the first half of the WHAC schedule. The 26 point win is the largest in series history for the Panthers as they improve to 23-5 on the year and 16-4 in league play. The 16 WHAC wins ties a conference record for wins in a single season which DU posted last season and the Panthers can clinch at least a share of their second straight league title on Wednesday when they host Concordia at 8:00 p.m.

JaVontae Ford scored 13 of his game high 16 points in the opening half and Dominez Burnett joined him in double figures with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists to lift the Panthers to their most convincing win ever over their rival Saints. Reserves Kyle Stidom and DeArmond Davis each finished with six points as DU outscored the Saints 37-35 off the bench.

Davenport jumped out to a quick 13-5 lead only to see the Saints come back with seven straight points including a pair of triples to tie it at 13 but that was when the DU defense took over the game. After getting to 15, Aquinas went scoreless for almost eight minutes and scored only five points over the last 12:48 of the half as the Panthers took a 41-20 lead into the break.

JaVontae Ford caught fire midway through the half as the red-shirt junior hit back to back 3's and was joined by three others forcing AQ into a pair of timeouts. Ford finished the first half with 13 points, which is just one point below his season average for a game. DU shot 58.6% in the opening half compared to just 37.5% from the Saints.

DU was hoping to avoid a let-down in the second half but the Saints got the lead down to just 16 at the 15:54 minute mark, but DU then used a 11-4 run over the next seven minutes to post a lead of 27 on a basket by Dawid Czerniawski with 8:51 to play. DU held its largest lead of 31 on a jumper from Dominez Burnett with 7:01 remaining.

The Panthers continued to excel from the field as they finished the game 29-53 (24-34 inside the arc) from the floor while limiting the host Saints to 16-44. Aquinas, who was led in scoring by Joe Ferrici, Bryan Mitzner and Nick Gregory with eight points each, held a 32-22 edge on the glass, but committed 24 turnovers including 18 in the first half.

Davenport will now have a chance to clinch at least a share of their second straight WHAC title when they host Concordia on Wednesday at 8:00pm. The Cardinals dealt the Panthers a 66-63 loss back on January 9 in Ann Arbor.

Post-Game Notes

The 26 point win is the largest in school history over the Saints besting them by 24 points (69-45) win in 2009-10…DU maintains a one-game lead in the race for the regular season WHAC title…DU has now made 124 of its last 201 shots from inside the 3-point arc for an amazing 61.6%

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