HAMMOND, Ind. - The Davenport University men's basketball team opened its 2022-23 campaign against William Jewell on Friday night and trailed the Cardinals by as many as 20 (38-18, 40-20) in the first half. Despite outscoring them 52-47 in the second, the Panthers were never quite able to dig out of that early hole falling by a score of 90-76.
Marcedus Leech Jr. paced the Panthers with 23 points, his fourth 20-point game in a Davenport uniform,
Jeff Carrier scored a career-high 18 and
Jakub Dombek added 16 in the first start of his career. Dombek led the way in rebounds with eight while Leech Jr. and
Luke Bara (collegiate debut) each notched three assists. Defensively, Dombek and
James Felton each tallied a block while
Brackton Miller and
Jaden Terrell (collegiate debut) each had a pair of steals.
At the break, the lead was 43-24 in favor of the Cardinals before they stretched it to as big as 26, 59-33, at the 13:10 mark of the second half. From there until there was just over a minute left to play, Davenport outscored William Jewell by 18, 40-22, to pull within eight, 81-73. However, it was too little, too late for the Panthers to begin the season.
Davenport will face Rockhurst on Saturday with the opening tip scheduled for 2 p.m. eastern in Hammond.
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