GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Redshirt-freshman sharpshooter,
Marcedus Leech Jr. (pictured), is starting to find his stride and is having fun doing it. Two days after scoring a career-high 26 points in a win at Davenport's bitter rival, Grand Valley State, on Tuesday, the Caruthersville, Mo. native was at it again against Purdue Northwest. Playing the team's first home game in 52 days, Leech Jr. scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-12 from the field, 6-of-8 from deep, and did it in just 14 minutes of playing time. The Panthers led the Pride wire to wire, were up by as many as 31 in the second half and cruised to a 28-point victory, 84-56.
Davenport improved to 9-6 overall, 5-3 in GLIAC play, 5-0 at home, and 10-1 in the all-time series with Purdue Northwest. On the other side, the Pride fell to 5-14 on the season, including 2-9 in league games. Next up, the Panthers will look to avenge an earlier season loss to Parkside when they take on the Rangers this Saturday in the Student Center at 3 p.m.
Jairus Stevens (15 points) made it two games in a row and three of the last four with at least 10 points, something he hadn't done in the four outings prior.
Luke Maranka was the other Panther to score in double-figures with 10. Three players brought down six rebounds including Stevens, Maranka and
Jarrin Randall while
Chris Rollins dished out five assists,
Jakub Dombek blocked two shot attempts and Rollins notched three steals. Dombek has now blocked multiple shots in a game five times this season and has 17 this season, which is tied with Chris Pearl for the most by a Panther in a single season since the 2018-19 season.
The first time Davenport and Purdue Northwest met this season (Dec. 11), the Pride's Mikell Cooper (34 points) was and still is the only Panther opponent with 30 or more points this season. Fast forward to Thursday and DU emphasized stopping Cooper as they held him without a single point and three turnovers in 15 minutes of action. That marked the first time in his 28 career games at PNW that Cooper was held scoreless. As a team, the Pride shot just 31 percent (18-of-58) from the floor, including only 26.7 percent (8-of-30) in the second half, the lowest overall clip by a Davenport opponent since Jan. 16, 2020 against Saginaw Valley State. Purdue Northwest managed just five makes in 27 attempts from behind the arc, including 1-of-14 in the second half.
Purdue Northwest turned the ball over 14 times, 11 of which came on Davenport steals, while the Panthers gave it away just nine times for the second game in a row. DU hasn't had single-digit turnovers in back-to-back games since Feb. 1-2, 2019 against Ashland and Wayne State, respectively.. the Panthers also racked up 17 assists as a team, their second-highest total this season, second only to 21 on Nov. 23 against Great Lakes Christian.
In the team head-to-head, the Panthers controlled the action in points off turnovers (19-7), second-chance points (13-9), points in the paint (32-24), and fast-break points (14-12).
Story by:
Cooper Weidenthaler
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