GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Davenport's men's basketball team added another first to its record book by winning the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Men's Basketball Tournament with  52-42 win over Lourdes.

Davenport (29-4) won its first men's basketball tournament title by doing what they did all season - playing hard core defense. The Panthers rank first in NAIA Division II in scoring defense per game (58.6) and three-point field goal defense (0.283).  DU held Lourdes to just 42 points on 28.8 percent shooting, and just 18.2 percent from the three-point arc. Davenport also won its first WHAC regular-season title this year.

The Panthers jumped to a 17-0 lead after holding Lourdes scoreless for 11 minutes and 36 seconds. The Gray Wolves rebounded with a 15-5 run of their own started by JD Parker's trey and closed the gap to seven points with just over three minutes on the clock. Lonnie Fairfax then scored six points of his 12 points in the final minute and a half to push the Panthers to a 28-17 halftime lead.

John Willhite hit a layup at the 18:53 mark in the second half to pull Lourdes to within six points, but the Gray Wolves could not overcome Davenport's defense. DU led by as many as 13 points late in the second half and held on for the win.

Davenport senior Damacious White led all scorers with 14 points. Fairfax added 12 points and James Humphrey grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

Marcus Outlaw was the only player in double digits for Lourdes (17-15) with 11 points. He also led the time with eight rebounds.

Both teams will represent the conference at the 2012 NAIA Divisin II Men's Basketball National Championship in Point Lookout, Mo. March 7-13. Davenport received the league's first automatic berth by winning the regular-season crown. Lourdes receives the second berth as tournament runner-up. Seedings and pairings are released Feb. 29 by the NAIA.