GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The fifth-ranked Davenport men's basketball team returned home for just the second time this semester as they faced seventh-ranked Cornerstone on Saturday night. Dominez Burnett led all scorers with 24 points, while Kevin Rich tallied his first career double-double with 15 points and ten boards. The Panthers were able to comeback in the second half to beat the Golden Eagles 78-72 after trailing by four at the half. The Panthers will now have another big home matchup as they host Aquinas on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
 
For the first time in his career Kevin Rich had a double-double, with 15 points and had a career-high ten rebounds for the Panthers, while Dominez Burnett had 24 points in the game. For the second straight game, Nick Gamble had ten points to round out the Panther scorers in double figures.
 
To start the game, Davenport jumped out an 11-5 lead to take their largest lead of the half, before Cornerstone was able to go on a 10-0 run to take a 15-11 lead with 12:06 left in the first. The back-and-forth affair continued throughout the first half as neither team led by more than six points throughout the half, as the Golden Eagles took a 38-34 lead into the half. The Panthers were held to just 38.6 percent shooting from the field and was 1-for-11 from behind the arc, while Cornerstone shot 46.4 percent from the field in the first half.
 
The seesaw battle between the two Beltline rivals continued to start the second half as the game was tied five different times and the lead changed hands nine times throughout the first 15 minutes of the second half. After a layup by Nick Gamble to tie that game at 60 with 4:58 left in the half, Rich came down to give the Panthers a 62-60 lead and Davenport never looked back as they held the lead for the remainder of the game to beat Cornerstone by the score of 78-70.
 
With the win over Cornerstone, Davenport still stays atop the WHAC with a 13-1 record and is one game ahead of Northwestern Ohio, who was able to defeat Aquinas on Saturday. Cornerstone is now two games behind Davenport in the WHAC standings.
 
The Panthers will face their other crosstown rival Aquinas on Wednesday night as they will look to remain atop the WHAC with the opening tip at 7:30 p.m.
 
Post-Game Notes
The game between Davenport and Cornerstone set a new DU Student Center attendance record with a total of 1,539 attendees… The Panthers snapped a three game losing streak to the Golden Eagles, and this is the tenth win for head coach Burt Paddock and the men's basketball program against Cornerstone.
 
Men's Basketball Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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