GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport men's basketball team was coming off their biggest win of the season when they squared off with Saginaw Valley State on Thursday evening. The defense that was played on Saturday at Parkside did not travel back to Grand Rapids in the first half as the Cardinals shot 18-of-32 from the floor and connected on 8-of-11 at the free throw line. Saginaw Valley State would lead 47-34 going into halftime.
The script was changed in the second half as Davenport outscored the Cardinals 31-30 and held them to 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from the floor. The Cardinals did draw contact at a high rate as they went 12-of-21 in the second half alone at the charity stripe. For the game, Saginaw Valley State was 20-of-32.
Davenport did shoot the ball well overall going 45.8 percent overall (22-of-48) and an above average 45 percent behind the arc (9-of-20). DU went to the line 19 times and converted 12 for 63.2 percent. The turnovers again plagued DU as they committed 24 compared to just 10 for the visitors from University Center. SVSU had a 29-12 advantage in points off turnovers and a 42-22 cushion in points in the paint.
Davenport had a 3-1 lead and 6-3 lead early and later in the first half were tied at 10 at the 13:08 mark.
Luke Bara would make a pair of three-pointers to give the Panthers a brief lead after each shot. A couple of turnovers led to dunks by SVSU who built a 28-20 lead at the 7:38 mark. The lead was 32-25 with 5:49 left in the half when the Cardinals scored an 8-0 run to increase their lead to 40-25 at the 3:19 mark. Davenport would score the final five points of the half to trail 47-34.
The lead was never under double digits in the second half and 51-40 at the 16:45 mark was the closest that the Panthers would get. SVSU's leading scorer Tre Garrett had 24 points on 8-of-11 from the floor and 7-of-12 at the line. He also had eight rebounds and seven steals.
Jordan Sterling led the Panthers with 13 points and also had three assists and two steals in 38 minutes.
Assane Diouf had a season-high 11 points and a season-high eight rebounds in his fifth game with the team.
Jaden Terrell rounded out the double figure guys for DU with 10 points.
