HOUGHTON, Mich. – Davenport continued their trip up north by taking on the Huskies of Michigan Tech. The Panthers had good memories from last year in the SDC Gymnasium when they defeated the Huskies in overtime and created some more good memories with a 77-68 victory on Saturday. In the first half Davenport struggled with their shot, shooting 1/10 from three as a team and only 8/30 from the field. However, the Panthers turned things around in the second half in a hurry, scoring 51 points and going 6/9 from deep. Davenport remains in second place in the GLIAC South Divisions with the victory, putting them at 7-3 in conference play.
 
THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport-77 | Michigan Tech-68
Location: Houghton, Mich.


 
POINTS PER HALF
First Half: DU-26 | MTU-29
Second Half: DU-51 | MTU-39
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The shooting woes continued from Thursday into the first half for Davenport. The Panthers had just one player, Dyllon Hudson-Emory, make more than one field goal in the half. Hudson-Emory went 3/6 from the floor, while Avery Hudson, Janeau Joubert, Chris Rollins, Khadim Dieng, and Chaz Birchfield all made one field goal each. The Panthers remained in the game after 20 minutes of play due to their hustle. Davenport was able to take seven more shots than the Huskies, and despite shooting just 26.7% from the floor, were down by three points heading into halftime.
 
The second half was a completely different story for the Panthers. Davenport poured in 51 points over the final 20 minutes of the game and went 6/9 from three as a team. The opening two minues of play did not go the Panthers way though as Michigan Tech went on a 8-0 run to build up an 11-point advantage. Davenport scored their first bucket 2:06 into the half when Hudson-Emory finished an old fashioned three-point play. The Huskies responded quickly with a three of their own, bringing their lead back up to 11 points. The momentum flipped in a heart beat as Davenport went on a 19-point run to take a commanding 48-40 lead. During the impressive run Hudson completed a rare four-point play and accounted for nine of the points. The lead continued to grow for Davenport as Rollins started heating up, he drilled a three and then proceeded to go coast to coast after a steal to give DU a 53-42 lead. After a few minutes of play Joubert had the same string of plays that Rollins did earlier, Joubert hit a three and then stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for an uncontested layup. The five straight points by Joubert put the Panthers up 60-46 with 6:07 to go in the game. The Panthers led by as much as 17, with 3:18 to play in the game, before the Huskies started to make a comeback. Michigan Tech cut the lead all the way down to five with 19 seconds to go in the game, but Joubert and Hudson-Emory each drained two free throws down the stretch to eliminate a comeback opportunity.
 
STAT LEADERS
Points: Hudson (22)
Rebounds: Hudson-Emory (8)
Assists: Rollins (7)
Steals: Joubert/Rollins (4)
Blocks: Zack Nieuwkoop/Tafari Beckford (1)
 
UP NEXT
Davenport gladly returns to their home court next week as they host Grace Christian and Grand Valley State. The Panthers will face Grace Christian on Tuesday and then Grand Valley State on Saturday.
 
Story by: Devin Steiner
 
Picture credit: Michigan Tech