ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - A season ago, USC Aiken averaged 90 points per game and shot nearly 47 percent from the field. Fast forward to Friday's season opener for Davenport at the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame Classic, and the Panthers didn't let the Pacers get anything going for 40 minutes. USC Aiken finished with just 68 points and a 37.3 field goal percentage (22-for-59) as Davenport defeated the Pacers, 77-68, with a stifling defensive effort to start the season at 1-0.

Making his first career start at Davenport, Tafari Beckford led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go with 11 rebounds for the double-double as well as one steal and a block. Off the bench, Chris Pearl (pictured) appeared in his first game as a Panther and also finished with a double-double thanks to 10 points, 13 boards (game high), three assists (team high), and a steal. Janeau Joubert and Robbie Bramhill each scored in double figures as well with 13 points and 10 points, respectively. Evan Hines and Chris Rollins paced the team in steals with two each.

Beckford's first seven points were also Davenport's first seven points as the redshirt junior converted a layup-plus-one, a dunk and a jumper right off the bat. Despite that, there were four ties in the first 36 points scored including 2-2, 5-5, 11-11, and 18-18. The biggest margin of points in that span was three and USC Aiken was on the right end of both of them, 8-5 and 16-13.

Once it was 18-18, Davenport began to take over and scored 11 of the next 13 points to go up by nine, 29-20, with under nine minutes to play in the half. During that 11-2 run, three different Panthers scored including Joubert with four, Rollins with four and Hines with three. From there until the break, the closest the Pacers could get was two, 29-27, but the Panthers led by as many as 11 when it was 46-35 at the break.

Out of the breather, Davenport was able to push its lead to 13 twice thanks to an Alonzo Chatman (six points) deuce each time. Once the Panthers were up by that many the second time, 53-40, USC Aiken chipped away and eventually pulled within six, 63-57, at the 9:38 mark. The Pacers were that many points away three more times (67-61, 69-63 and 70-64), but the Panthers wouldn't let their lead budge in USC Aiken's favor anymore than that before the final nine-point margin of victory.

Davenport's bench outscored USC Aiken's, 30-18, and the Panthers out-rebounded the Pacers by eight, 43-35, including five on the defensive glass, 30-25.

Next up, the Panthers will play their second game of the Classic on Saturday against No. 6 Lincoln Memorial with the tip set for 1 p.m. central time.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler