GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A sloppy first half on both sides of the ball ended up costing the Daemen Wildcats a shot at an early season upset as they fell to the #3 Davenport Panthers 85-75 tonight at DU's Student Center. Daemen managed just 30% shooting (8-for-27) from the field in the opening frame before mounting a second half comeback which saw them outscore the Panthers 50-44. In the end, 18 second chance points and 31 points off the bench for Davenport was too much for Daemen to overcome.
"We came in and battled an awfully good team for the full 40 minutes, albeit with some undisciplined play in the first half," said Daemen head coach Don Silveri. "We're not taking any moral victories from this though. We had a chance to beat a highly ranked team and we didn't. We'll be ready when they come to our place next month."
Daemen failed to generate much offense in the first as they were plagued by poor shooting while Davenport enjoyed 51% shooting (15-for-29) en route to a 41-25 halftime lead.
The second half was a different story as Daemen got themselves back in the game behind the hot shooting of sophomore guard
Casey Sheehan (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena HS). Sheehan put together an unreal array of drives of jumpers, finishing with 25 points in the game, 23 of which came in the second half.
On two occasions late in the game the Wildcats cut the Davenport lead to five. It was all for naught, however, as the Panthers closed with a flurry and knocked down their free throws down the stretch. Davenport connected on 28 of their 39 free throw attempts (72%) showing a vast improvement for a team that came in shooting 51% from the line.
James Nelson scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Panthers. JaVontae Ford came off the bench to score 20 and James Humphrey added 13.
After Sheehan's 25, Daemen was paced by freshman
Gerald Beverly (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili HS) who finished with 12 points and five boards. Senior
Devon Dawson (Buffalo, NY/St. Hoe's HS) tossed in 10 points as well.
Daemen closes this road trip to Michigan tomorrow afternoon when they face defending National Champion Cornerstone at 2pm.
