GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Panthers faced a tough opponent for their first competition of the 2019 year and met the Lakers from Lake Superior State with some even tougher defense. Davenport defeated the Lakers 82-60 and forced 26 turnovers in the contest. The win marks the first in program history over Lake Superior State and helps boost the Panthers into a six-way tie for second place. Sophomore Avery Hudson continues to fill up the stat sheet on a nightly basis, he recorded 15 points, six assists, five rebounds, and a steal.
 
THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport-82 | Lake Superior State-60
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich.


 
POINTS PER HALF
First Half: DU-36 | LSSU-31
Second Half: DU-46 | LSSU-29
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Davenport won the opening tip of the game and wasted no time in scoring the first bucket of the game. Transfer Chris Rollins hit a three, which was a couple feet beyond the arc, to score the first Panther points of 2019. A couple of possessions later senior Khadim Dieng had himself a Kodak moment as he had a poster dunk over an LSSU defender and then proceeded to hit the free throw. The dunk ignited an eight-point run, which was capped off by a jumper by Dyllon Hudson-Emory that put DU up by six. The Panthers earned their first double-digit lead of the game when Dieng finished a layup, assisted by Hudson, with 9:14 left in the half. On the next offensive possession, Hudson drilled a three in transition to give Davenport their biggest lead, 13 points, of the first half. The Lakers never went away despite being down by double digits. The lead shrunk to only five points for Davenport by halftime.
 
The opening five minutes of the second half saw the lead stay the same. The Lakers hit a pair of free throws and DU had a 43-38 advantage. On the ensuing possession, junior Robbie Bramhill brought some energy to the building when he put down a dunk in transition, putting the Panthers up by seven. After a free throw by LSSU, the Panthers scored five unanswered points to bring their back to 11 points. With the score 56-41, in favor of DU and with 11:05 to go in regulation, Davenport scored nine straight points to increase their lead to 22 points. During the stretch, Chaz Birchfield scored four of the points and Hudson hit another three-ball in transition. The lead hit 30 points when Chris Rollins finished a layup to bring the scored to 82-52 with 3:19 remaining. Both teams went to their bench and the scoring slowed for the Panthers. Lake Superior State ended the game scoring eight straight, but Davenport still won by 22 points.
 
STAT LEADERS
Points: Hudson (15)
Rebounds: Tafari Beckford/Bramhill (6)
Assists: Hudson (6)
Steals: Janeau Joubert (5)
Blocks: Hudson-Emory (1)
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers have another tough test on their schedule for the week when they head to Big Rapids on Saturday to face Ferris State University. The Bulldogs are coming off an 86-79 win at Grand Valley State tonight.
 
Story by: Devin Steiner
 
Picture credit: Alexis Hoffman