SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Davenport men's basketball team had to travel to Lake Superior State on Thursday (Jan. 25) to play a rescheduled GLIAC contest against Michigan Tech. The Panthers fell to the Huskies by a final of 71-64. The Huskies improved to 6-5 in conference play, while DU dropped to 3-8. The Panthers were down as many as 16 points in the second half, but fought back and got the game within five points with 1:28 remaining. Davenport couldn't get stops late in the game and fell by the seven-point margin.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport-64 | Michigan Tech-71
Location: Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Records: Davenport 9-10 (3-8) | Michigan Tech 9-9 (6-5)
POINTS PER HALF
First Half: DU-31 | MT-36
Second Half: DU-33 | MT-35
HOW IT HAPPENED
Michigan Tech scored the first basket of the game on a jumper by Bryan Heath on their first offensive possession. Davenport responded with a layup of their own from Robbie Bramhill. Davenport then took the lead with a jumper from Nick Malonga to put the Panthers up 4-2. Tech went on a 9-0 run after that to reestablish their lead. Davenport cut down the lead with a pair of free throws from Zack Nieuwkoop to 19-14. Orlando Little followed with a layup to narrow the deficit to three at 19-16. With both teams trading baskets for the rest of the half, Davenport cut the deficit to five points heading into halftime.
Tech open the scoring in the second half with a jumper. Davenport would narrow the deficit to 38-37 with a three-pointer from Bramhill and a layup from Delano Smith. Tech scored 12 unanswered points to increase the lead to 51-39. Janeau Joubert followed up with a layup of his own to cut the lead back down to 13. MTU answered with a three of their own to gain a 16-point lead, which was the largest deficit of the half for DU. Following a three from Malonga, DU would narrow the deficit to seven points with 5:24 remaining. The Huskies maintained the lead for the rest of the game.
Smith led the scoring charge for Davenport with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. The other Panthers who scored in double digits was Bramhill with 16 points, John McCloud with 11 points and Nick Malonga added 11. McCloud also grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Panthers travel to Detroit, Mich. on Saturday to take on GLIAC foe Wayne State University for the second time this season. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the Matthaei Center.
