CHICAGO, Ill. – In the first game of the Saint Xavier Midwest Tournament, the sixth-ranked Davenport men's basketball team took on host, No. 15 Saint Xavier (Ill.). Davenport had four players in double-figures as Dominez Burnett led the way with 22 points and Kevin Rich chipped in with 15 points. The Panthers will play their second game of the tournament on Monday evening at 5 p.m. EST against 11th ranked Saint Ambrose (Iowa).
 
For the third straight game, Dominez Burnett broke the 20 point mark with 22 on Sunday afternoon against Saint Xavier (Ill.). Kevin Rich chipped in with 15 points as he was 4-for-6 from behind the arc, while Dawid Czerniawski and Thomas Drew both had 11 points in the game. Czerniawski also had seven boards in the game to lead the Panthers, while Burnett and Rich grabbed five boards apiece.
 
Davenport started the game on an 11-2 run to take an early nine point lead just four minutes into the game, and the Panthers continued their hot start in the first half as they took their biggest lead of the first half with 9:31 left in the half with the score of 23-9. The Cougars continued to battle back in the first half as they pulled within three points of the Panthers with a 15-3 run. Dawid Czerniwaski was able to hit a shot before the buzzer to give Davenport a 32-24 lead into the locker room.
 
After an early bucket from Saint Xavier to start the second half, Davenport went on an 18-6 run to take their largest lead of the game of 55-32 with 14:48 left in the game. The Cougars would not go away as they pulled within ten points with 10:15 left in half, and Saint Xavier continued to battle back as they cut the Panther lead to four points with 2:10 left in the second half. However the Panthers were able to keep the Cougars at ease down the stretch as Davenport went on to win 78-72.
 
The Panthers held the Cougars to just 30.5 percent from the field in the game, as the Cougars shot 50 percent from the field this season. Davenport was able to shoot 61.5 percent in the second half as they shot 50.8 percent from the field for the game.
 
The Panthers will be back in action Monday evening against No. 11 Saint Ambrose (Iowa) in the second game of the tournament for both teams.
 
Post-Game Notes
 
This is the fourth time all season that the Panthers were out-rebounded, and Davenport was able to even their record at 2-2 when losing the rebounding battle… The Panthers also move to 1-1 on the year in games that are decided by 6-10 points… Burnett set a new season-high and tied his career-high with five assists in the game, while Czerniawski tied his season-high with seven rebounds in the game.
 
Men's Basketball Contact: Rick Hoskin | 616-554-5045 | rhoskin@davenport.edu
Secondary Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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