Late run dooms No. 7 Men’s Hoops in NAIA Top-10 battle

Box Score

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – No. 7 Cornerstone held a 60-58 lead over No. 5 Davenport but the host Panthers closed out the game on a 20-14 run to even the season series at 1-1 with a 78-72 win. The loss, the first for Cornerstone since December 13, drops the Golden Eagles to 17-5 on the year and 11-3 in the WHAC. CU will look to rebound on Wednesday when they play on the road against Lourdes.

Game Flow

Two of the best defensive teams in the conference showed their strength early as neither team was able to get much going on the offensive end. DU then got hot from the floor and opened an 11-6 lead but the Golden Eagles fought right back and scored nine straight points forcing the Panthers into a timeout trailing 15-11. The lead would fluctuate twice more but the latter came with a 5-0 run by CU to go up 33-30 and the Golden Eagles went into the break leading 38-34.

Cornerstone would maintain the lead for much of the second half upping it to as many as five at 52-47 but Davenport continued to battle back especially behind the play of Dominez Burnett and Kevin Rich. DU scored six straight points just under the five minute mark to take a 64-60 lead and CU played catch up from there on in. The Panthers were able to ice the game at the free-throw line as the closest the Golden Eagles got was two (64-62) with just under two minutes to play.

Say What?

"It was a great atmosphere for two of the top teams in the country. We did not execute down the stretch and they were able to make their free-throws. We need to get back to work and continue to keep improving." Head Coach Kim Elders

By the Numbers

39.7 and 41.4 – Two of the best shooting teams in the country both struggled from the field today (CU – 23-58)

4 – Starters in double-figures led by Kyle Steigenga (FR/Holland, Mich.) with 21 and Ben Lanning (JR/Grandville, Mich.) with 20

6 – Cornerstone mustered just six points from their bench, compared to 21 from Davenport

18 and 21 – Both teams crashed the boards with CU posting 18 offensive rebounds and the Panthers' 21

15 – Combined turnovers for the game – CU had nine and DU, six

13 – Rebounds for Kyle Steigenga, and with his 21 points – posted his

Up Next

Cornerstone will play their third straight road game next Wednesday when they head to Sylvania, Ohio to face the Lourdes Gray Wolves.

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