GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Facing a halftime deficit of 12 points, 44-32, to Saginaw Valley State, the Davenport University men's basketball team once again flipped a switch at the break to escape with a 79-77 victory. The win marks the Panthers third straight this season and sixth in a row over the Cardinals to lead the all-time series by four, 6-2. Davenport improves to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in GLIAC play for the first time since the 2017-18 season, its first as a member of the league. Next up, the Panthers will host Albion in a non-conference tilt on Monday at 7 p.m.

Four Panthers scored in double-figures including Chris Rollins (21) with his 17th career 20-point game, Jarrin Randall (13), Marcedus Leech Jr. (12), and Jairus Stevens (11). Leech Jr. and Jakub Dombek each brought down seven rebounds, Rollins dished out six assists with a pair of steals, and Dombek blocked two shots. That makes three times in his five games that Dombek has had multiple blocks. With nine blocks this season, the Czech Republic native is already one shy of last season's leader, James Felton.

Former Panther, Delano Smith, came in averaging 18.6 points per game, which was top five in the conference, and he scored 16 against Davenport, but needed 22 shots to do so (6-of-22 FG, 2-of-10 3FG). As a team, Saginaw Valley State shot a red-hot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the field in the first half, but Davenport buckled down in the final 20 minutes to allow a clip of just 39.3 percent (11-of-28). The Panthers were also much better than Thursday on the offensive glass as they out-rebounded the Cardinals 17-9 on that end and 45-34 overall. DU controlled the team scoring categories, including 18-8 in points off turnovers, 16-9 in second-chance scoring, 25-7 in bench points, and 32-24 in paint points.

Davenport scored seven of the game's first nine points before Saginaw Valley State rattled off a 9-0 run to go up by four, 11-7. A Stevens free throw and Leech Jr. triple deadlocked things at 11-11 and later, a Randle trey gave the home team a five-point advantage, 18-13. The visitors punched back with 12-straight points to lead by seven, 25-18, and eventually pushed their lead to 12, 44-32, heading into the locker room.

The first tie of the second half (48-48) didn't come until the 15:21 mark when Leech Jr. hit another three-pointer and that was the first of six ties and seven lead changes in those 20 minutes. Fast forward to late in the game and Davenport was up four, 75-71, with just under three minutes to go. From there, Saginaw Valley State cut the deficit to one on two occasions, 76-75 and 78-77, the second coming with just 34 seconds left. Then Smith came down for the Cardinals, missed a pull-up jumper, Dombek got the rebound, and was fouled. Dombek made one of two, Rollins grabbed the board after the second and threw the ball to the other end to let the clock run out and seal the victory.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler