DENVER, Colo. – The Davenport men's rugby team came up short from clinching the USA Rugby College 7s National Championship last weekend in Denver. The Panthers picked up five consecutive wins but fell to Mid-South Conference foes Lindenwood 28-10 in the Cup final Sunday.
 
Davenport fell into a hole 7-0 three minutes into the contest. JP Eloff put Davenport on the board three minutes later but the Panthers couldn't make the conversion. The Lions set the tone of the game in the span of two minutes when they made both a try and conversion in the 11^th and 13^th minutes to take a 19-5 lead.
 
Although Mason Baum connected a try in the 15^th minute, it didn't spark any momentum as Lindenwood tallied seven more points four minutes later.
 
The Panthers road to the Cup final started off smoothly in pool play, taking down Sacramento State 47-7, Miami (Ohio) 54-12 and edging Utah 24-20 to complete the sweep.
 
Davenport had to sneak by Arizona State 17-12 in the quarterfinal and then hold off Central Washington 26-21 in the semifinal.