SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Davenport University men's basketball team trailed Lake Superior State by only four, 63-59, with just over six and half minutes left to play on Saturday inside Bud Cooper Gymnasium. However, the Lakers proceeded to end the game with a 17-7 run to take their biggest lead of the day at 14, which is where it stood when the final buzzer sounded, 80-66. Next up, the Panthers will come back home for their final three home games of the regular season, the first of which is against Michigan Tech on Friday with a 5 p.m. tip-off.

Scott Ulaneo finished with his second career double-double thanks to 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 10 rebounds to go with two blocks and an assist in 35 minutes of action. Also scoring in double-figures for Davenport were Evan Hines with 11 and Chris Rollins with 10. That's Hines' first double-digit scoring effort since Jan. 26 at Grand Valley State while Rollins was held to his lowest output since scoring 10 in the rematch against Wayne State on Jan. 16. Rollins did pace the Panthers in assists with seven to just two turnovers while three different players tallied a pair of steals including Hines, Brackton Miller and Chaz Birchfield.

In the team stats, Davenport was out-rebounded by eight, 41-33, including 12-6 on the offensive glass. Lake Superior State held a considerable advantage in points off turnovers (17-5), bench points (18-6) and fast-break points (23-10) as well.

Just like Friday, Davenport opened the game with a sizeable lead and was up by eight, 10-2 to start the rematch. Following a pair of ties at 13-13 and 16-16 as well as the Panthers final advantage at 23-22, Lake Superior State took the lead back with a layup and never gave it up. The Lakers went on to lead by as many as eight, 36-28, in the first half, were up three, 40-37, at halftime and pushed the margin to 13, 54-41, in the second before the Panthers mounted their comeback effort.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler