GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – It was a very hard fought 88-77 win for the Davenport men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon against Northern Michigan in the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals. Playing in front of a great home crowd, the Panthers battled to a 40-40 tie at halftime and then outscored the Wildcats 48-37 in the second half to pull out the victory. NMU shot 45.2 percent in the first half and then DU held them to 35.3 percent from the floor in the second half. The Panthers shot it well from deep going 12-24 from behind the arc with seven makes in the first half and five more in the second half. The Panthers will face the winner of Grand Valley State and Parkside in the GLIAC Tournament Final on Sunday, March 10 at 3:00 p.m. inside the DU Student Center.
 
THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport-88 | Northern Michigan-77
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich. (DU Student Center)


 
POINTS PER HALF
First Half: DU-40| NMU-40
Second Half: DU-48 | NMU-37
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Wildcats came out and started the game on a 10-2 run thanks to Naba Echols. He scored the first eight points for Northern Michigan and then Isaiah Johnson added a jumper with 17:42 left in the first half. Davenport quickly turned the tide and trailed 14-13 at the 14:44 mark after a triple by Robbie Bramhill. Northern Michigan kept a slim lead up until the 9:14 mark when Davenport took their first lead at 23-22 after a layup by Khadim Dieng. The Panthers built a 36-27 lead with 4:54 left in the first half as Dyllon Hudson-Emory canned a three. The Wildcats ended the first half however on a 13-4 run to tie the game at 40. Echols made back-to-back tough three's and Johnson converted a layup to head into the locker room.

Davenport began to take the lead over for good in the first few minutes of the second half. DU led 57-47 on a 17-7 run to open the first 5:27 of the half. Four different players scored during that span for DU. NMU was within 67-60 with 8:14 remaining but DU quickly scored the next six points to pull ahead 73-60. The lead was double figures until 28 seconds left when the Wildcats made it 85-77. Chris Rollins made 3-4 at the line down the stretch to seal the win.

STAT LEADERS
Points: Hudson-Emory (19)
Rebounds: Hudson (8)
Assists: Hudson (6)
Steals: Joubert (2)
Blocks: Hudson-Emory (3)


 
INTERESTING FACTS
-Khadim Dieng came off the bench to score nine points (4-4 FG). It was his first game action in the last three games.
-Davenport secured their first-ever appearance in the GLIAC Tournament Final.
-Hudson-Emory shot 70 percent from the floor or better for the sixth time this season.
 
UP NEXT
Davenport will face either Grand Valley State or Parkside in the GLIAC Tournament Final. The game is scheduled for a 3:00 pm tip-off on Sunday, March 10 in the DU Student Center. The Panthers are 3-1 against those two teams this season.