DETROIT - The Davenport University men's basketball team will head into next week's GLIAC Tournament on a four-game winning streak, which is tied for its longest of the season. Saturday afternoon at Wayne State, the Panthers made quick work of the Warriors, 90-64, and did it while shooting 60.7 percent (34-of-56) from the field, their highest mark against a Division II opponent since joining such ranks prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
Davenport (14-13, 10-10 GLIAC) will be the No. 8 seed for the GLIAC Tournament and face top-seeded/No. 25 Ferris State (21-7, 16-4 GLIAC) on Wednesday in Big Rapids for the quarterfinal round. It will be the two teams' sixth all-time meeting (Panthers lead 3-2), but first in the league tournament. The Bulldogs come in having lost four of their last seven games, a stretch that began with DU's 75-73 win in Grand Rapids on Feb. 7.
Chris Rollins scored a game-high 20 points (19th career 20-point performance) and was one of five Panthers in double-figures along with
Marcedus Leech Jr. (14),
Jarrin Randall (12),
Chaz Birchfield (12), and
Jairus Stevens (10). All 10 players that got into the game for Davenport found the scoring column including the first-career points for
Nic Sura thanks to a three-pointer with under a minute left to play in the game.
In the rebounding battle, Rollins, Birchfield and
Luke Maranka each brought down six of them while Randall dished out a personal-best seven assists. Defensively, four different Panthers registered a block while Birchfield and Randall each tied their career high in steals with three.
Davenport improved to 10-3 this season, including 7-2 in GLIAC play, when leading at halftime and is also 10-3 when shooting at least 37 percent from behind the arc. Saturday, the Panthers cashed in on 10 of their 25 looks from three-point land (40 percent), eight of which came from Rollins (4-of-8) and Leech Jr. (4-of-5). DU out-rebounded WSU by six, 37-31, including 33-19 on the defensive glass. This season, when Davenport brings down more boards than the opponent, it's 9-1 overall and 6-1 against conference foes. The visitors also controlled points off turnovers (21-11), bench scoring (28-23), points in the paint (38-32), and fast-break scoring (11-4).
The Panthers own an all-time record of 2-2 in the GLIAC Tournament and Wednesday's game will be just their second on the road (2020 at Northwood).
Story by:
Cooper Weidenthaler
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