FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's basketball team opens Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) this weekend when they head to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a battle with third ranked Davenport
 
Indiana Tech (2-1, 0-0 WHAC)
 
Saturday, Nov. 12, 3 p.m. at No. 3 Davenport (3-0, 1-0 WHAC) – Grand Rapids, Michigan (DU Student Center)
 
Following the Warriors: Links to live stats and video will be available at IndianaTechWarriors.com. You can also follow the action on Twitter by following @INTechMBB and @INTechWarriors.
 
Last Time Out: The Warriors fell to crosstown rival and fourth ranked Saint Francis, 72-55, on Monday night. Dominique Walls recorded his third straight double-double to begin his Tech career with 18 points and 11 rebounds while also rejecting three shots and picking up three steals. Jalen Huff also chipped in double digit points with 10.
 
Head Coach John Peckinpaugh: Now in his second season at the helm for the Orange and Black, as well as his second stint with the program, head coach John Peckinpaugh went 11-19 in his first season as the head man for the Warriors. Peckinpaugh returned to Indiana Tech after serving as an assistant for the Warriors during the 2012-2013 season, where he served as the recruiting coordinator He was instrumental in recruiting all of the returning Tech players for the 2014-2015 season during this time. In between stints with Tech, the Muncie, Indiana, native served as a graduate assistant for his alma mater, Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) during the 2013-14 year. While with the Mastodons, he was part of a coaching staff that helped the team achieve the most successful season in program history with a 25-11 record and being ranked No. 19 in the NCAA Division I Mid-Major poll. IPFW made it all the way to the Summit League Tournament Championship game, losing to North Dakota State, who would go on to upset fifth-seeded Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Mastodons would make the postseason for the first-time ever as a Division I program that season as well when they hosted Akron in the College Insider.com Tournament, defeating the Zips, 97-91.
 
Scouting the Opposition: Davenport – The third ranked Panthers have started 3-0 on the season and scoring more than 89 points in each game. They most recently defeated Marygrove in their conference opener on Wednesday, 99-55. Dominez Burnett has averaged over 27 points per game so far while pulling down a team-high six rebounds a game and dishing out four assists a night. Wayne Bradford is shooting over 66% from the field and 80% from behind the arc for 14 points a game.
 
Series History: Davenport – Tech is 12-14 against the Panthers all-time and has dropped the last eight in a row. The Warriors last win came on Jan. 25, 2012, when they defeated the Panthers, 57-47, in Fort Wayne.
 
Making a Good First Impression: Transfers Dominique Walls and Jantzen Goodwin have each made an immediate impact in their first three games for the Warriors. Walls has recorded three straight double-doubles and is averaging over 19 points a game and shooting 70% from the field while pulling down over 10 rebounds per contest. He also leads the team in blocks with seven. Goodwin is averaging 10.7 points a game while shooting at a 43.5% clip and has taken charge of the Tech offense by averaging five assists a game.
 
Block Party: Junior Lavonte Davis and Walls have been a shot-blocking presence in the paint for the Orange and Black. Walls leads the team with seven while Davis is right behind with six, including four against Saint Francis. Both players rank inside the top-20 in terms of total blocks and blocks per game. Tech ranks eighth as a team in blocks per game (6.33) and 14^th in total blocks (19).
 
Sharp Shooting: Miles Robinson, Tanner Watkins and Goodwin have all been deadly behind the three-point line so far this year. Robinson leads the team by shooting at a .421 clip and averaging almost three a game, while Watkins and Goodwin both shoot it at better than 36.4%.
 
Home Cooking: After Saturday's matchup with Davenport, Tech returns to the Schaefer Center for a five game homestand, with three of those games coming against WHAC opponents.
 
Tough Sledding: The Warriors will face off with six teams that were ranked in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Topping the list is three teams within the conference, including defending champion and preseason No. 1 Cornerstone. Davenport comes in at No. 3, while Northwestern Ohio sits at No. 17. Crosstown rival Saint Francis is fourth in the inaugural rankings, while the Orange and Black will also square off on the road with No. 10 IU East and No. 14 Grace.
 
Lots of New Faces: While the Warriors returned eight players from last year's team, that didn't stop Peckinpaugh from hitting the recruiting trail hard. He added five freshman and four transfers to the mix to go along with an upper-classmen laden team. Junior Jantzen Goodwin (Vincennes University), senior Jaelen Manson (Vincennes University) and senior Dominique Walls (Ashford) will all look to make an immediate impact for Tech, while junior Edmond Early, Jr. (Owens Community College) will redshirt this season.
 
In the Trees: Tech has seven players who stand 6'5" or taller, including five that are 6'7" or taller. Starting forward Lavonte Davis (6'8") will be a matchup problem for opposing teams, while junior center Laurence Mifsud (7'0"), senior forward Milos Milidragovic (6'11"), sophomore forward Scott Schwieterman (6'7") and freshman forward JeQuante Davis (6'8") give the Warriors plenty of depth in the paint.