LIBERTY, Mo. – The Panthers get the perfect start to the season! Davenport improves to 2-0 by beating Rockhurst 73-62. The second half proved to be the Panthers savior for the second straight game. Davenport scored 53 in the second half against William Jewell yesterday and poured in 49 points during the second half against Rockhurst. Out of those 49 team points, Avery Hudson and Delano Smith accounted for 35 of them. The Panthers shot 6/10 from three in the second half and outrebounded Rockhurst 23-16.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport-73 | Rockhurst-62
Location: Liberty, Mo.
 
POINTS PER HALF
First Half: DU-24 | RU-27
Second Half: DU-49 | RU-35


 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers struggled to score the basketball during the first half against the Hawks. Davenport scored their 10^th point, a jumper by Khadim Dieng, with 9:39 left in the half. Rockhurst led by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Panthers finished the last 5:39 of the half on a 10-4 run, which included eight points by Robbie Bramhill in a two-minute stretch. Rockhurst scored the final bucket of the half and Davenport trailed 27-24 at halftime. Surprisingly, Dyllon Hudson-Emory, Smith, and Hudson combined for zero points during the first half.
 
The second half was a completely different story than the first as Davenport scored 49 points. Hudson was on fire in the half, scoring all 20 of his points during the half and went 5/7 from the field, including 3/5 from three. Davenport took the lead 2:44 into the half and never looked back. Hudson hit a three and then got a layup to go on the fast break to give Davenport a 34-31 lead. The lead continued to grow as Hudson hit another jumper, his seventh straight points, and then Smith threw down a dunk to give Davenport a seven-point advantage. The lead grew to 10 points after Hudson scored six points in a 30-second period. He cashed in a three and then was fouled on a three-point attempt on the following offensive possession, he drained all three of the free throws. Rockhurst didn't go out easily though, as they cut the Panthers lead down to three, 63-60, after hitting a layup with 2:50 left. Hudson and Smith quickly put a damper on the comeback attempts as they each hit three pointers, bringing the lead back up to seven (69-62). Davenport hit their free throws down the stretch to close out the game successfully.
 
STAT LEADERS
Points: Hudson (20)
Rebounds: Hudson-Emory (8)
Assists: Janeau Joubert (5)
Steals: Chris Rollins/Joubert/Hudson-Emory (2)
Blocks: Bramhill/Hudson/Hudson-Emory (1)
 
COACHES CORNER
"This was a great weekend for our team. (2-0) Start and yet found a few things we really have to get better at if we want to reach our goals we have set for ourselves. It was very encouraging that our team was able to find a way to weather the storm and find a way to win today when we simply weren't playing our best.
 
We seemed a step slow and not as aggressive as we needed to be when the game started. This trip was very challenging in a lot of aspects and it was very encouraging to see us continue to battle and have a few guys have really terrific offensive second halves to help us get the "W". Avery had a 20-point second half and Delano found his rhythm getting 15 of his own in the second. However, as usual with our team it was aggressive team defense that got several stops in a critical long stretch of the second half that allowed us to get away from them." – Head Coach Burt Paddock
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers return home for two games over the next week. Davenport will host Calvin College for their home opener on Monday and then host Great Lakes Christian College on November 19.
 
Story by: Devin Steiner
 
Picture credit: Tyler Triemstra