GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Prior to Saturday's showdown inside the DU Student Center, No. 8 Ferris State had been averaging 92.3 points per game, which was good for first in the GLIAC and 10th in all of Division II. The Panthers handed the Bulldogs their first GLIAC loss of the season, 69-65, while holding the Bulldogs to just 65 points, 11 fewer than their previous season low (76 against Illinois Tech).

With the win, Davenport improves to 10-5 overall, 8-2 at home and 2-3 in GLIAC play. On the other side, Ferris State is now 15-2 on the season including 4-1 in league action and 4-1 away from its home arena. Next up, the Panthers will travel to Detroit on Thursday to face Wayne State with the opening tip set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Matthaei Center.

Chris Rollins poured in a game-high 23 points, two shy of his career high, as well as four assists, two rebounds and two steals on 7-of-17 shooting to go with an 8-for-8 effort at the free throw line. Also scoring in double-figures for Davenport were Janeau Joubert with a season-high 16 points, Tafari Beckford with 11 and Evan Hines with 10. Beckford tied the game high with eight rebounds while Robbie Bramhill and Rollins each dished out four assists, which tied the career high for Bramhill. Joubert led the Panthers in steals with four (season high) and Chris Pearl notched the squad's lone block.

The biggest lead either team held in the first half was five and that was by Davenport at both 22-17 and 28-23. Ferris State captured its largest advantage of the game in that first half when it was ahead by four, 4-0 and 17-13. Overall the first half saw a combined four ties and six lead changes, the last of which came when the Bulldogs' Greg Williams made a three-pointer at the buzzer to put his team ahead, 33-32, heading into the intermission.

Out of the break, the back-and-forth play continued with 11 more lead changes and eight more ties with the final deadlock coming at the 5:46 mark when it was 57-57. Davenport then scored nine-straight points to take all the momentum away from Ferris State and got contributions from both Rollins (five points) and Beckford (four points) during that stretch. After that, the closest the Bulldogs could get was two, 67-65, with just 17 seconds to play, but the Panthers put the game on ice at the free throw line. On the day, Davenport went 21-for-31 at the charity stripe and tied its season high for free throws made.

In the team head-to-head, Davenport outscored Ferris State 20-8 in fast-break points and forced 17 turnovers, just one fewer than the Bulldogs season worst of 18 against East-West U. The win marks the Panthers' second over a ranked team in the Division II era with the first coming at No. 7 Ashland last season, 92-72.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler