GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport men's basketball team got a real scare from Madonna on Tuesday night at the DU Student Center. The Crusaders entered the game with a 3-7 overall record and were 1-3 in the WHAC, but battled to the last possession before DU held tight on defense and did not allow a shot attempt in the final 29 seconds. The Panthers improved to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the WHAC and won at the DU Student Center for the 100th time in the process (100-14). Davenport evened the all-time series at 13-13 and beat the Crusaders for the fifth straight time.

The Panthers and Crusaders had six lead changes and three ties in the contest and the previous close game for Davenport was eight points in their last conference game at Michigan-Dearborn. DU led 37-29 at halftime as Wes Webbert banked in a three-pointer from the right wing as time expired. Davenport led for the first 10:45 of the contest before MU gained an 18-17 lead on a triple by Nick Owens. The lead was short-lived as DU built a 26-20 lead with 4:36 left in the half. Madonna trailed by 11 with 1:56 to play in the half and then cut the lead to five before Webbert's triple. The Madonna bench came up big in the first half with 18 points compared to seven for the Panthers.

The game was in single digits for the final 10:35 as both teams delivered big shots. DU led 60-50 with 10:35 to play and then Madonna went on a 15-4 run to take a 65-64 lead with six minutes to go. The Panthers regained the lead but lost it again with 3:17 remaining at 70-69 after a layup by Chris Dierker. Dominez Burnett split at the line with 2:07 left and then Zak Lewis made a pair of free throws for a 72-70 lead with 1:59 left. The Panther defense caused a turnover and fast-break chance as Wayne Bradford scored a layup with 1:04 on the clock to tie the game at 72-72. Dierker was forced into an off-balance triple by Braima Hai grabbed the rebound and fired ahead to Burnett who was fouled on a drive to the hoop with 29 seconds left. He made the first but missed the second setting up the final possession. Madonna called timeout with 14 seconds to go but then lost the ball and with 0.1 seconds a jump-ball was called and Madonna kept the ball. After two timeouts, the inbound pass was knocked away for a one-point win.

Burnett led the team in scoring for the seventh time this season with 28 points going 9-of-15 from the floor and 10-of-13 at the foul line. He also had nine rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes. Bradford scored just two points in the first half but rebounded to score 13 in the second half. He recorded four steals and dished out two assists in 32 minutes. Kevin Rich scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Hai finished with a team-high six assists and turned it over just once. DU shot 49.1 percent for the game (28-of-57) while MU shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) but made nine three's. Dierker scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. Khalil Malone and Zak Lewis each contributed 10 points. The Panthers will now travel to Tennessee for a pair of games over the Thanksgiving weekend on Saturday against Milligan and Sunday against Union (Ky.).