ASHLAND, Ohio – Davenport faced one of their toughest opponents this season and came away with a huge victory. The Panthers took down the number seven ranked team on the road. Blistering offense combined with stifling defense was the recipe for success in taking down Ashland University by 20 points. Davenport came away with a 92-72 victory over the Eagles of Ashland and inch closer to the number one spot in the GLIAC. The combo of Avery Hudson and Chris Rollins scored 56 points and shot 17/23 from the field. The victory marks the Panthers fourth straight victory and their ninth conference win.
 
THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport-92 | Ashland-72
Location: Ashland, Ohio


 
POINTS PER HALF
First Half: DU-38 | AU-32
Second Half: DU-54 | AU-40
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening two minutes of play told a different story than the remaining 38 minutes of this contest. The Eagles scored nine unanswered points, while the Panthers missed a pair of layups and had a couple turnovers during the stretch. Davenport went on a run of their own and cut the lead down to one point 11-10 with 14:20 left in the half. Ashland turned around and went on a 12-3 run to take a 23-13 advantage. The momentum started shifting the Panthers way after Hudson hit back to back three balls, giving Davenport their first lead of the contest with 4:52 to go in the half. The lead continued to grow for the Panthers after Hudson made another layup and Janeau Joubert drilled a three, making it a seven-point lead for DU. Rollins hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds on the game clock to give Davenport a six-point lead heading into halftime.
 
The Panthers blew the game wide open when they scored six quick points to start the second half. The six points forced Ashland into taking a 30-second timeout. Immediately following the timeout, Davenport provided full court pressure and the pressure proved successful. The Eagles inbounded the ball into the corner and Davenport quickly trapped, forcing Ashland into taking another timeout. The timeout, which came with 18:47 left in the second half, left the Eagles with only one timeout for the remainder of the game. Shortly after, a series of events changed the energy in the gym. The Eagles head coach was whistled for two consecutive technical fouls, forcing the refs to eject him from the game and awarding Davenport with four free throws. Hudson stepped to the line and hit all four free throws, giving DU a 13-point advantage with 16:50 to play. The crowd was energized after the ejection of their coach and the Eagles fed off that energy. However, the Panthers wouldn't stray from their game, holding a double digit lead. Rollins silenced the crowd when he nailed a three and was fouled on the shot, after the media timeout he stepped up to the charity stripe and finished the rare four-point play. From that point on the Panthers continued to play with their foot on the gas pedal. Hudson scored his 30^th point of the contest with 2:42 left in the game when he drilled a three, assisted by Joubert. Davenport fought off the Eagles and their home crowd to maintain a double digit lead for nearly the entire half.
 
STAT LEADERS
Points: Hudson (32)
Rebounds: Hudson (6)
Assists: Rollins (6)
Steals: Rollins (4)
Blocks: Khadim Dieng/Tafari Beckford (1)
 
INTERESTING FACTS
-32 points by Hudson and 24 points by Rollins are both career highs at Davenport.
-Ashland came into the game with the third ranked defense in the country…holding opponents to only 60.5 points per game. Davenport crushed that average and scored 92 points on the Eagles.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers will have one of their quickest turnarounds of the season as they travel to Detroit tonight to prepare to take on Wayne State tomorrow afternoon. The game is expected to start around 4:00 p.m. in the Matthaei Center.
 
Story by: Devin Steiner
 
Picture credit: Andy Visockis