GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - For the second time since joining the Division II ranks prior to the 2017-18 season, the Davenport University men's basketball team is off to a 2-0 start. This week, the Panthers will look to keep it rolling at Parkside's Haribo Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. against a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) foes in Upper Iowa on Friday (6 p.m. ET) and Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday (2 p.m. ET).

•  Davenport 77, Rockhurst 64: Chris Rollins led all scorers with 23 points while Jakub Dombek finished with a double-double in his Davenport debut as the Panthers shot nearly 52 percent from the field to defeat Rockhurst in the 2021-22 season opener, 77-64. Davenport improved to 4-0 in the all-time series against Rockhurst and three of those four victories came by at least 11 points.

Rollins was efficient in his 16th career 20-point game as he went 7-for-11 from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc, and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. The redshirt senior added four rebounds, three steals and two assists in his 33 minutes on the court. Dombek also played the role of stat sheet stuffer as he finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and a steal in just 23 minutes.

Also making his debut in a Davenport uniform, Jairus Stevens joined the double-figures party with 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting to go with seven rebounds, two steals and an assist. Jarrin Randall paced the Panthers in assists with five to go with nine points, two steals and no turnovers. Samm Jones represented another program debut and notched eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and no turnovers. Rounding out the scoring for the Panthers was Chaz Birchfield with nine, Jaylen Hodges with five (collegiate debut) and Noble Cooper with two (DU debut).

Team wise, Davenport held a firm advantage in bench points (26-16), fast-break points (16-0), steals (12-3), points off turnovers (22-8), and points in the paint (32-24). The Panthers shot nearly 60 percent from the floor in the first half (17-of-29) and held the Hawks to just 33.3 percent shooting (10-for-30) in the final 20 minutes.

The difference came with just over 11 minutes to play in the game. At that point, Davenport was up by just seven points, 59-52, and proceeded to go on an 11-3 run over the next seven and a half minutes to take its biggest lead of the game at 15, 70-55. During that span, the Hawks made just one of their 10 field goal attempts while the Panthers converted on four of their eight. From there until the end of the game, Rockhurst could never get closer than 12 before the final 13-point margin.

•  Davenport 75, William Jewell 67: The Davenport University men's basketball team played well on both ends of the court on Saturday against William Jewell as the Panthers shot an efficient 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field and held the Cardinals to just 36.4 percent (20-for-55) shooting in their own right. With the score tied at 64-64 and just over four minutes to play in the second half, Davenport used an 11-3 run to put William Jewell away, win it by eight, 75-67, and improve to 2-0 on the young season.

Making his DU debut, Marcedus Leech Jr. finished with a team high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including two makes in three attempts from deep, and went 2-for-3 at the free throw line. Leech also notched four rebounds, one assist and a steal in his 24 minutes on the court. Also scoring in double-figures for the Panthers was Chris Rollins with 14, Jairus Stevens (pictured) with 14 and Jakub Dombek with 10. Luke Maranka paced Davenport in both rebounds and blocks with 10 and two, respectively, while Rollins dished out eight assists and tallied a pair of steals.

The game saw a total of seven ties, the final one coming at 64-64 prior to Davenport's big run to seal it, as well as six lead changes. During that 11-3 run for the Panthers, four different players found the scoring column (led by Stevens with four) and the Cardinals made just one of their eight field goal attempts.

In the team head-to-head, Davenport held the upper hand in the rebounding battle (41-28), second-chance points (10-5), bench scoring (33-7), and points in the paint (30-22). The Panthers also racked up 15 assists to the Cardinals' eight while William Jewell shot just 20.8 percent (5-for-24) from behind the arc.

•  Hot Start: For the second time since joining the ranks of Division II, Davenport has begun the season 2-0. The other team to accomplish this feat was the 2018-19 squad that finished 27-4 and won the GLIAC Regular Season Championship. Those Panthers won their first seven games and did so by an average of nearly 17 points per game.

•  Double-Double Dombek: Redshirt-sophomore forward from Prague, Czech Republic, Jakub Dombek, joined Chris Pearl as the only Panthers in DU's Division II history to record a double-double in their debut with the program. Chris Pearl did it with 10 points and 13 rebounds against USC Aiken in the 2019-20 season opener on Nov. 1, 2019. Dombek accomplished the feat with 10 points and 10 rebounds in this season's opener at Rockhurst on Nov. 12.

LIVE COVERAGE
Friday, Nov. 19 - 6:00 PM ET - Listen (Rick Berkey) - Live Stats - Live Video
Saturday, Nov. 20 - 2:00 PM ET - Listen (Rick Berkey) - Live Stats - Live Video
 

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