WESTVILLE, Ind. – The Panthers defeat Purdue North-West 88-67, improving to 3-0 to start off the 16-17 season. Davenport won three games in three days, all while on the road. This is great practice for the national tournament as teams need to win three games in four days in order to make it to the elite eight. The men's basketball team made a huge improvement defensively tonight as they held the Lions to 67 points, which was a 30 point difference compared to the 97 they let Governors State score the night before.
 
After losing some key players from last years' team fans and other teams around the NAIA were curious to see how the Panthers would respond. Davenport answered the call and proved they are yet again a force to be reckoned with. The Panthers won three road games in three days to open up the season, defeating two of those opponents on their home courts. Offensively Davenport averaged 91 points during the three games and held their opponents to 71 points per game. The Defense will be the focus over the next couple weeks for head coach Burt Paddock as last year the team only gave up 64 points per game.
 
Four different Panthers dropped seven or more points in the opening half to help create a ten-point lead after 20 minutes of play. Transfer Javon Haines led the way for DU offensively as he had ten points on 3/5 shooting from the field and 4/4 from the charity stripe. Seniors Nick Gamble and Kevin Rich each chipped in eight points during the first half. Gamble would add five assists and four steals to his stat line as well for the half. The Lions took a 21-20 lead with 8:09 left in the half, the Panthers would respond in a big way. Davenport went on a 20-9 run to close out the half, capped off by an and one bucket by senior Dawid Czerniawski with 18 seconds left.
 
The second half was a thing of beauty as the Panthers scored 48 points while shooting 68% from the field. Not one player on the team would miss more then two shots during the half. A big part of the shooting success was the un-selfish play by everyone, they assisted on 13 out of the 17 baskets. The largest lead for DU was 23 points in the middle of the half. Wes Webbert made a lay-up in the paint, assisted by Khadim Dieng, with 10:30 on the clock to force a Purdue North-West time out. Davenport was steady throughout the whole half as they led by 15 or more points during the last 15 minutes of action. Rich did it all in the second half as he had six points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
Five Panthers scored in double digits during the game, Czerniawski (10), Robbie Bramhill (12), Gamble (13), Rich (14), and Haines led DU with 18 points. Seven different Panthers would tally three or more rebounds on the night to contribute to a team total of 38 rebounds compared to the Lions 22 total rebounds. Senior point guard Gamble and transfer Haines were the anchors in the back court for davenport tonight. Gamble had 13 points, eight assists, four steals and was 5/6 from the free throw line. Haines had 18 points on 6/10 shooting from the field and added five rebounds. Rich was the leader in the front court with 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
Davenport will get some time to reflect on these last three games as they don't play again until their home opener on November 14^th at 7 p.m. in the DU Student Center.