Box Score ELSAH, Ill. - The Principia Panthers took on the Blackburn Beavers in a SLIAC match up on Tuesday night. Despite the Panthers being at home, it was the Beavers who came out with all the energy and took it to the Panthers from the opening tip. Principia was unable to crack Blackburn's high pressure man to man defense and fell into a hole that was insurmountable. Despite finding some semblance of an offense in the second half, Principia fell 83-42.
The game initially started well for Principia as they were able to score the opening bucket of the game on a baseline jumper from
Joey Sander. However, after that shot, the Panthers struggled to score on the intense Blackburn defense. Blackburn shot well from the field in the first half, making 57% of their shots. The Panthers on the other hand were unable to find the basket as they only made 14% of their first half attempts.
In the second half, while Principia shot the ball slightly better, they were unable to gain any traction due to Blackburn's tenacity on the offensive boards. Blackburn ran away with the 83-42 win.
Some solid performances came from the Panther's bench in this game as
Connor Savoye, Steve Hammond,
Evan Eisenauer, and
Jonathan Ansumana all played with great intensity and tenacity. They brought a needed energy to the game for the Panthers, who were flat for most of the first half.
Principia next plays at home against Spalding University on Saturday January, 9th at 3:00 PM.
