GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Davenport trailed Northwood by two, 67-65, with under three minutes to play on Thursday night inside the DU Student Center for the regular season's home finale. The Panthers then proceeded to outscore the Timberwolves by six, 9-3, the rest of the way to hold on for the four-point victory, 74-70. The win puts Davenport in a tie for third in the GLIAC (Michigan Tech) with four games to play in the regular season, all of which will be on the road.

With the win, Davenport improved to 18-8 overall, 10-6 in league play and 11-5 at home. On the other side, Northwood is now 13-11 on the season, 8-8 in conference action and had its five-game winning streak snapped. The first of that four-game road swing for the Panthers will be at Saginaw Valley State (14-10, 8-8 GLIAC) on Saturday with the opening tip set for 3 p.m. Davenport absolutely crushed the Cardinals at home back on Jan. 16, 76-39.

Against Northwood, Davenport was led by a career-high 24 points from Tafari Beckford on an efficient 9-of-10 from the field. Beckford also finished with seven rebounds while cashing in on his lone three-point attempt and going 5-for-6 at the free throw line. That single-game shooting clip of 90 percent is tied for third in program history. Playing in potentially his final home game as a Panther, Chris Pearl earned his third double-double of the season thanks to 17 points and 12 rebounds to go with an important block late in the game when it was still a two-point margin. Also scoring in double-figures for Davenport was Chris Rollins with 14.

In the first half, there was just one tie and three lead changes. Northwood led by as many as eight, 20-12, at the 9:19 mark and Davenport's biggest advantage was five, 29-24, with under two and a half minutes on the clock. Once it was 20-12 in favor of the Timberwolves, the Panthers outscored them by 12, 21-9, the rest of the half to lead by four at the break, 33-29. The second period saw more back-and-forth play with four deadlocks and a pair of lead changes. The last of those four ties, 67-67, came in the midst of Davenport's 9-3 run that closed it out.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler