DETROIT, Mich. – Antoine Davis helped Detroit Mercy get out to a strong start and never look back, scoring 39 points to lead his team to an 85-60 victory over the Milwaukee men's basketball team Friday night at Calihan Hall.
 
The Panthers (5-10, 3-3 Horizon League) fell behind the Titans (5-7, 3-0 Horizon League) by a score of 30-10 early and never could get on track, seeing the home side tie the program record for an opponent with 18 made three-pointers on the night.
 
"We got off to a rough start tonight in the first half," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "We tried different things on the defensive end. And when you are hot, you are hot. We had hands in his (Davis') face and he found other shooters too. This is one of those nights where everything you try, from man to zone, didn't work. But we have to lick our wounds and get ready for the next one, as much as this one hurts."
 
Josh Thomas was very good in the loss, scoring 15 of his 19 points after the break. Thomas went 8-of-11 from the floor and led the team with six rebounds.
 
Donovan Newby was also in double-figures, scoring all 12 of his points on a 4-for-6 showing from deep.
 
Davis, who came into the game as the league's leading scorer (22.2 ppg) and in the Top 5 in the NCAA, made 8-of-13 threes to tie his season-high with the 39, also becoming Detroit Mercy's all-time leading scorer near the end of the game when he crossed the 2,320 mark.
 
The Panthers played an even second half, but the damage was done and the team was not able to climb back in.
 
"We have to watch film, we have to see how we can get better," Baldwin said. "And then, in less than 48 hours we have another game. So, there's nothing that we can do right now about this one but try and get better and improve for our next game coming up."
 
The first half was all Detroit Mercy and all Davis, who went for 23 in the opening period. Milwaukee led briefly at 6-5 and then the Davis show started at 8-8. The Titans went 15-0 and it came all on three's, four of them from Davis. That sparked an overall run of 22-2 to lead 30-10. The lead kept growing, helped along by 13 MKE turnovers, and eventually swelled to 48-20 at the break.
 
Up next, Milwaukee closes out the five-game road trip with a game at Oakland Sunday, getting underway at 3 p.m. CST.