DETROIT - In its first road game of the season, the Davenport University men's basketball team trailed Wayne State by only four, 60-56, with just under seven minutes to play. However, the Warriors proceeded to reel off 14 of the next 16 points to take a commanding 16-point lead, 74-58, with 2:50 left on the clock. From there until the final buzzer, the Panthers could never get closer than 11, 76-65, before the final 18-point deficit, 86-68, that dropped them to 0-3 in 2021.

Chris Rollins scored a team-high 21 points to go with six assists and two steals, both of which were also tops for the Panthers. Also scoring in double-figures for Davenport was Elijah Belle with 11 points (personal best), Evan Hines with 10 and Chaz Birchfield with 10, which tied his career high. Scott Ulaneo paced the Panthers in rebounds with 10 and came within two points of a double-double while Case Conley registered the team's lone block.

Davenport started hot with the game's first seven points and 10 of its first 13 before Wayne State responded with a 12-5 run of its own to tie the game up for the first of five times in the first half, 15-15. Once the fifth and final of those five deadlocks came at 24-24, the Warriors then ended the stanza with a 13-2 spurt to go into halftime with all the momentum and an 11-point advantage, 37-26. The night's final two ties came at 40-40 and 42-42 of the second half before the home team took over down the stretch.

The two teams will come right back and play again on Saturday with the tip set for 2 p.m. inside the Warriors' Matthaei Center.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler