UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team earned a 101-94 win over Davenport inside O'Neill Arena on Senior Day. The Cardinals (13-13, 7-11 GLIAC) took control of the game late in the first half and never surrendered the lead through the final 20 minutes of play to earn the win over the Panthers (13-13, 7-11 GLIAC).
"Down the stretch, we made enough shots and free throws in order to pull the game out," said SVSU Head Coach Chris Fowler. "It became a free-throw contest between both teams, and luckily, at the time we had the lead."
Meijer Player of the Game, Bryson Huckeby, hit career milestones with 1,000 career points and a career-best 21 points in the game on his final home game at SVSU. He added seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal to his totals in the winning effort.
Dontez Scott II (Romulus, Mich. / Summit Academy North) got things going early with a three-point jumper in the opening 30 seconds of play. Huckeby hit his first three-pointer a few minutes later to give the Cardinals a 10-6 lead with 15:43 on the clock.
Huckeby scored a layup at 11:49 to move the lead to 16-10 as the game moved into the 12-minute media timeout.
Davenport responded with a 16-0 run coming out of the break to flip the advantage and earn the first double-digit lead of the game with just over 8:30 left before the half.
Marquese Josephs (Mississauga, Ontario) made a layup to halt the DU run and sparked a 10-0 run, which tied the game at 26 with 6:10 left to play in the first frame.
Josephs made another bucket following two free throws by DU to start a string of six more points, and the Cardinals recaptured the lead 32-28 with just under five on the clock.
Xavier Thomas (Detroit, Mich. / Brother Rice HS) hit back-to-back three-point jumpers to widen the gap to eight points, 38-30, and SVSU was able to sustain a 41-35 advantage as the teams entered the locker room.
The Panthers battled back in the opening three minutes of the second half, outscoring SVSU 9-4 to bring the score within a point of a tie (45-44).
Thomas drained another three to move ahead by four and begin a 9-0 run that pushed the game past the first media stoppage and gave the Cardinals their first 10-point lead, 54-44, with 14:21 left in regulation.
The margin stayed around that mark for much of the second half until Huckeby hit a shot from deep that gave SVSU its largest lead of the game (77-64) and put him just two points away from 1,000 points. He secured the milestone with two free throws that extended the lead to 12 points and earned the career-high 21 points with two more in the closing minute to help secure the win.
Five Cardinals scored double-digit points, with Thomas leading the way with 23 on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor. Triston Nichols (Shelby, Twp., Mich. / De La Salle HS) and Huckeby tallied 21 points. Nichols added eight rebounds, seven assists, and two steals. Josephs finished with 11 points, and Scott II added 10.
UP NEXT: Saginaw Valley State men's basketball hits the road for the final two games of the regular season next week. The first contest will take place in Hammond, Indiana, against Purdue Northwest on Thursday, February 26, at 7:30 p.m. (ET).
