GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport University men's basketball team will face No. 15 Ferris State for the second time in five days when it hosts the Bulldogs on Monday night inside the DU Student Center. Ferris State won the two teams' Thursday matchup in Big Rapids, 91-74, and Davenport will be looking to snap a season-long four-game losing streak.
•   #15 Ferris State 91, Davenport 74: Facing Ferris State in Big Rapids for the first time in over three years, Davenport went up against a team in the No. 15 Bulldogs that had won seven games in a row and 12 of its last 14. Aside from a tie under two minutes into the game, Ferris State led wire to wire and was up by as many as 20 before the final 17-point margin. Three Panthers scored in double-figures including
Jarrin Randall (18),
Chris Rollins (18) and
Jairus Stevens (15). Stevens brought down six rebounds,
Samm Jones dished out a career-high six assists,
Luke Maranka tallied the Panthers' lone block, and Randall tied his personal best in steals with three. The first two times Ferris State pushed its lead to seven points in the first half (9-2 and 19-12), Davenport battled back within one point (11-10 and 19-18). With just under four minutes to play in the half, the Bulldogs' lead was three, 32-29, before they ended the period with a 9-2 run to go up by 10, 41-31, heading into halftime. Out of the break, Davenport scored 21 points to Ferris State's 16 and cut the deficit to five, 57-52, at the 12:29 mark. The Bulldogs responded with five points in a row to stretch their advantage back to double-digits and didn't look back. In the team head-to-head, Ferris State outscored Davenport 56-34 in points in the paint, 24-9 in bench scoring, 14-6 in second-chance points, and 23-17 in points off turnovers.
•   Lake Superior State 97, Davenport 86: Lake Superior State scored 97 points, the most by a Davenport opponent this season, and did so while shooting 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the field on Saturday afternoon inside Bud Cooper Gymnasium. The Lakers defeated the Panthers, 97-86, and improved to 7-2 in the all-time series with wins in three straight.
Jairus Stevens scored a team-high 24 points, his most as a Panther, on 7-of-9 shooting and 10-of-17 at the free throw line to go with six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Also scoring in double-figures for Davenport were
Chris Rollins (17),
Jarrin Randall (14) and
Luke Maranka (13).
Marcedus Leech Jr. brought down seven rebounds next to his nine points and Randall dished out four assists. Defensively, Randall and Maranka each blocked a shot while Stevens and Leech Jr. notched one steal apiece. Davenport shot the same percentage from the floor as Lake Superior State with just as many makes in just as many attempts. However, the Lakers made three more triples (10-of-26 to 7-of-19) and missed just five free throw attempts as opposed to the Panthers' nine misses at the charity stripe (25-of-30 to 17-of-26). The home team also held the advantage in bench points (24-16), second-chance scoring (14-10) and points off turnovers (13-11). The hosts led wire to wire and were ahead by as many as 19 in the second half, 65-46 and 72-53.
• Scouting the Bulldogs: Ferris State has won nine games in a row and 14 of its last 16 with a No. 15 ranking in the NABC Coaches Poll. Individually, the Bulldogs are led by Walt Kelser's 19.0 points per game, which is good for third in the GLIAC. Kelser is one of five Bulldogs scoring at least 10 points per game along with Dorian Aluyi (13.4), Ben Davidson (12.6), Lee Higgins (12.1), and Logan Ryan (10.8). Aluyi is the team's top rebounder with 7.7 per contest, which ranks fourth in the league, while Jimmy Scholler's 4.8 assists per outing is slotted at second in the conference.
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