Box Score Decatur IL,
In case someone forgot that the 7th leading scorer in the nation last year plays for the Panthers, they got a reminder tonight. Behind a 40 point outburst from Senior Captain
Adaku Anumu the Panthers took down Millikin University 89-71 to capture their first victory of the year.
Anumu and the Panthers set the tone early, after forcing a shot clock violation on the first defensive possession Anumu hit a wing 3 pointer to give the Panthers the first bucket of the game and 3-0 lead. Millikin came back with an array of jumpers and layups and was able to gain a 14-12 lead with 11:49 to play in the first half. The Panthers would then explode on a 13-0 run with 3 pointers from Anumu,
Parker Davidson, and
Jamie McFarlane. Davidson and Anumu also converted on two layups to build an 11 point Panther lead.
Millikin then responded with a run of their own eventually taking the lead back by 4. The Panthers didn't let this get them down however. Behind another barrage of buckets from Anumu the Panthers were able to gain back the lead at half going up 34-31 at the break.
Coming out of the recess Anumu connected on back to back 3 pointers giving him 24 points with 19 minutes remaining still in the game. The Panthers started to build a lead behind some stingy defense and timely offensive buckets, including back-to-back buckets from Senior
Justin Ball highlighted by an impressive finish and foul.
The Panther lead ballooned to 17 with 8:35 left after Anumu and Davidson both continued to pour in buckets. Millikin would cut the lead a few different times but it never got below double digits and the Panthers shot well from the line down the stretch and got a couple of nice buckets from Sophomore
TreVaughn Goodman to seal the victory.
Davidson had an outburst of his own going for 26 points 11 rebounds and collecting his second consecutive double-double.
For Anumu, he connected on 10 of his 13 shots from deep and shot 15-22 overall. This is just the 4th time in the history of the program someone has scored 40 points since switching to the NCAA. Anumu had already done it twice and now holds 3 out of the 4 performances with 40 or more points.
Sophomore
Micah Paulson also chipped in with a little bit of everything picking up 4 points 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Up next the Panthers take on Spalding University a week from today at home marking the beginning of play in the SLIAC Conference schedule.
