HOUGHTON, Mich. - The Davenport University men's basketball team captured the first GLIAC Tournament title in program history on Sunday inside SDC Gym and did so in emphatic fashion. The Panthers dismantled Northern Michigan (18-12), 100-67, for the largest margin of victory ever in the league final and became the first team to score 100 points in that game since 1996. DU also became the first-ever eight seed to win the event and was just the third to play in the finals.

Davenport (17-13), winners of seven games in a row, was paced by the Tournament MVP, Jarrin Randall. Randall finished with a game-high 28 points for the sixth 20-point game of his career, all of which have come this season. The Chicago native put up a total of 69 points in the three tournament games for an average of 23 per contest. Also featured on the All-Tournament Team with 15 points on Sunday was big man, Luke Maranka, who racked up 51 points in the three outings for an average of 17.

Those two were joined by Jairus Stevens (17 points) and Chris Rollins (16 points) in the double-figure department. Maranka came two rebounds shy of back-to-back double-doubles while Stevens and Samm Jones each notched a pair of assists. Defensively, four different Panthers registered a block including Maranka, Stevens, Chaz Birchfield, and Jeff Carrier, while Rollins and Stevens each tallied three steals.

Unlike Saturday against Saginaw Valley State in the semifinals, Davenport couldn't have asked for a better start against Northern Michigan. The Panthers scored 11 of the game's first 15 points and 16 of its first 22 to lead by 10, 16-6, just over five minutes in. The Wildcats answered with five-straight points to make it a five-point game, 16-11, but would never get any closer than that. DU would go on to lead by as many as 15 in the first half (29-14), 12 at halftime (44-32), and 39 in the second half (93-54).

Davenport beat Northern Michigan for just the third time in the all-time series (3-9) and it's the widest head-to-head margin for either team. The Panthers also snapped a six-game losing streak against the Wildcats, while defeating head coach, Matt Majkrzak, for the first time (1-6).

Davenport now looks ahead to the NCAA Tournament and field of 64, which will be revealed on Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. A link to the show will be on the front page of NCAA.com just before the show.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler
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