HOUGHTON, Mich. — The Davenport men's basketball team (8-4, 2-2 GLIAC) fell to No. 5 Michigan Tech (12-2, 3-1 GLIAC) by a final score of 77-68 on Saturday afternoon at SDC Gymnasium. Despite a strong 30 points scored in the paint and just 18 allowed, Davenport was unable to overcome the Huskies' 11 three-pointers and 18 made free throws. Both teams would finish the contest with 24 made field goals.
Davenport would score first which was a big thing after starting slow in yesterday's loss at Northern Michigan. The lead was short lived as the Huskies scored the next five points and would lead 11-8 at the first media timeout. The first half stayed in the high single digits throughout much of the next several minutes. MTU built a 28-18 lead at the 9:19 mark and
Curtis Jackson responded with a three-pointer. The lead grew to 13 for the Huskies, but Davenport trimmed to back to 36-31 at the 3:45 mark on a layup by
Dylan Smith. The Huskies would lead 40-33 at halftime and shot 43.3 percent, while the Panthers were slightly better at 44.8 percent. Michigan Tech made eight three-pointers in the first half compared to two for Davenport.
The first minutes of the second half did not change much of the narrative, but the Panthers got the deficit under double digits at 49-41 at the 14:07 mark as
Alden Ritt connected on a basket. The surge would continue and Davenport only trailed 49-45 at the 13:23 mark on a Jackson fast-break layup.
Davenport would get a triple by
Ken Walker and trailed 51-50 at the 12:16 mark. The game was tied at 58 for the second time of the game with 8 minutes to play. The Huskies would then go on an 8-0 run into the media timeout to lead 66-58 with 3:38 to go. The run continued to 12-0 after the media timeout as Marcus Thomashek scored his 13th point of the game. The final would be 77-68 in favor of Michigan Tech.
Jackson would score a career-high 23 points to go with six rebounds and five assists. He also went 3-of-4 from behind the arc to set a career high in three-pointers made. Ritt ended with 14 points and five rebounds, going 6-of-11 from the floor. Walker scored 16 points and went 7-of-8 at the free throw line. Smith finished with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Davenport Top Performers
Curtis Jackson
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- 23 points
- 7/13 field goals made
- 6 rebounds
- 5 assists
Alden Ritt
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- 14 points
- 6/11 field goals made
- 2 blocks
- 2 steals
Ken Walker
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- 16 points
- 7/8 free throws made
- 4 rebounds
Dylan Smith
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- 11 points
- 5/9 field goals made
- 7 rebounds
