GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - In the midst of a four-game homestand, the Davenport University men's basketball team will open up GLIAC play against the likes of Wayne State on Thursday night and Saginaw Valley State on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers are 3-2 through their first five games while the Warriors come in with a record of 1-2 and the Cardinals are off to a 4-2 start.

•  Upper Iowa 84, Davenport 67: Davenport trailed Upper Iowa by only seven, 50-43, with just over 14 minutes left to play in the game on Friday night before the Peacocks used a 17-3 run over the next five minutes to go up by 21, 67-46. From there until the final buzzer, the closest the Panthers could get was 17 and that came in the final score, 84-67. Jairus Stevens led the Panthers with 13 points while Chris Rollins added 12 and Noble Cooper chipped in 10, a Davenport high for the redshirt junior. Luke Maranka brought down eight rebounds, Jarrin Randall dished out four assists, Marcedus Leech Jr. and Jaylen Hodges each had a block, and Jeff Carrier recorded a pair of steals. Davenport took its final lead of the game, 9-8, at the 15:10 mark of the first half when Jakub Dombek made a layup and the Panthers then pushed their lead to three at 11-8 and 13-10. The Peacocks took the advantage back, though, and led by as many as 10, 27-17, before heading into the locker room for halftime up six, 39-33. Out of the break, Upper Iowa kept the pressure on and eventually took all of the momentum with the 17-3 stretch. Upper Iowa made six more three-pointers than Davenport while outscoring the Panthers 16-4 in paint scoring and 19-7 in fast-break points. Jareese Williams and Joe Smoldt paced the Peacocks with 23 points apiece and Jake Hilmer added 12.

•  Southwest Minnesota State 73, Davenport 63: Davenport led Southwest Minnesota State by eight, 36-28, at halftime before being outscored by 18, 45-27, in the second half and falling to the Mustangs, 73-63. Jairus Stevens led a pair of Panthers in double-figures with 16 points and Noble Cooper added 12. Luke Maranka and Jeff Carrier each brought down five rebounds while Marcedus Leech Jr. and Chris Rollins each dished out four assists. Maranka also blocked a pair of shots while Leech Jr. and Stevens were responsible for two steals apiece. The Mustangs' final lead of the first half came with a layup at the 10:29 mark that put them up by one, 15-14. The Panthers then punched back with an 18-6 run that gave them their biggest lead of the game at 11, 32-21. Southwest Minnesota State cut the deficit to seven, 32-25, before heading into the locker room down eight, 36-28. Out of the break, the two teams exchanged the lead four times before SMSU took the advantage back for good. At that point, Davenport led by one, 43-42, before Southwest Minnesota State hit a pair of free throws that started a 20-11 burst and gave the Mustangs' their first double-digit lead of the game at 10, 63-53. After that, the Panthers cut it to five at 64-59 with three minutes to play, but never closer.

•  Davenport 109, Great Lakes Christian 68: Davenport rolled past Great Lakes Christian College, 109-68, on Tuesday night in the 2021-22 home opener. The Panthers shot 65.2 percent (43-66) from the field in the process, the second best mark for a single game in program history, behind just the 67.2 percent (45-67) clip on Dec. 16, 2013 against Grace Bible College. Six Panthers scored in double-figures including Chris Rollins (17), Jarrin Randall (17), Luke Maranka (15), Jairus Stevens (15), Chaz Birchfield (11), and Jaylen Hodges (10). All in all, 11 different players found the scoring column for Davenport. Marcecdus Leech Jr. (10 rebounds) came within two points of a double-double, Stevens dished out five assists and Hodges blocked five shot attempts (tied for third in DU history) while both Stevens and Brackton Miller each notched a pair of steals. The Panthers couldn't have asked much more of themselves offensively in the first half as they shot nearly 72 percent (23-32) from the floor, including 9-of-12 (75 percent) from behind the arc. Davenport also went to work in bench scoring (46-33 advantage), points in the paint (58-18) and on the fast break (25-11). DU led the battle in the rebounding department, 46-33, including 38-20 on the defensive glass.

•  GLIAC Play is Here: Davenport is 3-1 in GLIAC openers since joining the league prior to the 2017-18 season, but is coming off its first loss in that department. The Panthers dropped their GLIAC/season opener last season against Northwood, 75-51, on Jan. 8 inside the DU Student Center. Thursday's meeting with Wayne State will mark the fourth time in five seasons that the Panthers get to open conference play at home. The one time they didn't was for the 2018-19 season when they traveled to Purdue Northwest on Nov. 29. Davenport will be meeting Wayne State in a GLIAC opener for the first time having faced Purdue Northwest for the first three and Northwood for the occasion a season ago.

•  It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Right: Through five games, Davenport has been able to execute on both ends of the floor. The Panthers lead the GLIAC in field goal percentage (53.0) and rank second in field goal percentage defense (40.2). DU ranks 11th and 59th in the country in those two categories, respectively. Davenport is also 25th in Division II and fourth in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (41.4). The Panthers are one of four teams in the GLIAC shooting above 40 percent from behind the arc. Individually, when it comes to field goal percentage for the Panthers, they're paced by Chris Rollins (59.1) and Jairus Stevens (58.8).

LIVE COVERAGE
Thursday, Dec. 2 - 8:00 PM - Live Stats - Live Video (Rick Berkey on PBP)
Saturday, Dec. 4 - 3:00 PM - Live Stats - Live Video (Rick Berkey on PBP)
 

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