GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport University men's basketball team put on a defensive clinic Thursday night inside the DU Student Center as it romped past Saginaw Valley State by 37 points, 76-39, including 24 in the second half alone, 40-16. You have to go back nearly 11 years to Jan. 29, 2009 to find the last time the Cardinals lost a game that badly as they were beaten by 40, 83-43, at Hillsdale.

Saginaw Valley entered the game as the GLIAC's third-best scoring offense at 78.9 points per game, a mark that Davenport lowered by nearly 40 points on Thursday. The last time the Cardinals were held to just 39 points was over eight years ago on Jan. 5, 2012 against Grand Valley State (53-39). SVSU shot just 24.4 percent (10-of-41) from the field, its worst since November of 2015, and only 8.7 percent (2-of-23) from behind the arc, its lowest since November of 2017.

Individually, Robbie Bramhill led all scorers with 18 points for his seventh double-figure scoring effort of the season and first since the 27-point outburst at Trevecca Nazarene. Bramhill splashed in five of his eight attempts from three-point land and went 3-of-4 at the free throw line. Also scoring in double-figures for Davenport were Chris Rollins with 12, Tafari Beckford with 12, and Janeau Joubert with 11. Beckford was one rebound shy of a third-straight double-double and Rollins paced the Panthers in assists with seven to zero turnovers. Thursday marked the first time in Rollins' career (60 games) that he dished out at least seven assists with no turnovers. Bramhill and Evan Hines each notched two assists while Chris Pearl and Bramhill each registered a block.

Davenport set the tone early as it scored the game's first eight points and 14 of its first 17. Once it was 14-3, Saginaw Valley scored six-consecutive points to cut the deficit to five, 14-9, but the Cardinals' fate had already been sealed. The Panthers pushed their advantage to 18, 35-17, and went into the locker room up 13, 36-23. In the second half, as mentioned above, it was all Davenport as it outscored Saginaw Valley by 24, 40-16, and even led by as many as 41 at one point, 76-35 with just under two minutes to go.

Davenport improved to 13-5 overall, 5-3 in GLIAC play and has won six of its last seven games including four in a row. On the other side, Saginaw Valley fell to 11-5 on the season, 5-3 in league action and is now just 3-4 on the road as opposed to 8-1 at home. Next up for the Panthers, they'll be at Northwood on Saturday with the opening tip set for 6 p.m.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler