Antoine Davis 4 points shy of breaking Pete Maravich’s NCAA scoring record originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Pistol Pete’s record stands another day.
Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis came up four points shy of dethroning LSU’s Pete Maravich atop the NCAA’s all-time leading scorers list.
Davis, 24, entered Thursday’s Horizon League quarterfinal matchup against Youngstown State needing 26 points to surpass the elusive 3,667-point mark. He finished with 22, leaving him three points shy of tying and four points from breaking the record.
The fifth-year guard started off slow -- finishing the first half with only seven points -- but quickly reminded everyone at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio, why he is within sniffing distance of Maravich’s 53-year-old record. The two sides continued to exchange leads throughout the second half as Davis inched closer and closer to that magic number 26 and seemed like he was on the brink of history.
However, the nets went quiet in the final four minutes for Davis and the Titans.
Down three with just over four minutes remaining, the top-seeded Penguins stayed composed by knocking down four free throws and a pair of field goals to ultimately take a 69-64 lead with 16 seconds remaining.
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A turnover by Detroit Mercy seemed to put the game away for good until Youngstown State picked up a technical, sending Davis to the line. He knocked down both free throws, cutting the lead to three and bringing his total for the night to 22.
For not the first time Thursday night, it seemed Davis was fated for a heroic moment -- knock down a 3-pointer to tie Maravich, send the game into overtime and buy himself five extra minutes to own the title outright.
However, the Penguins again proved why they’re the No. 1 team in the Horizon League by knocking down another pair of free throws and sealing the win for the home crowd.
Davis went 0-for-5 in the final 2:04 and came up just three points short of tying Maravich.
With the loss, Davis’s chance of breaking the record is seriously jeopardized. The eighth-seeded Titans are now eliminated from the conference tournament and contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. It remains to be seen if Detroit Mercy will be invited to one of the other postseason tournaments, but their resume (14-19 record) doesn’t make a convincing case to guarantee Davis another chance on the court.
Davis posted a career average of 27.3 points per game with the Titans and recorded at least 1,000 points in four of his five seasons in Detroit.
His attempt at breaking the record came more than 53 years after Maravich scored 69 points against Ole Miss to claim the title from Oscar Robertson. While Maravich’s record is impressive, his sustained efficiency remains in a league of its own.
He averaged 44.2 points over 83 games, making him the only player on the top-10 scorers list to play less than 100 games.
