Box Score Mount Pleasant, IA--The Panthers hit the road in style tonight capturing a victory over conference foe Iowa Wesleyan. Led by a second half outburst the Panthers rallied back from a big deficit to grab an 83-80 conference win.
The Panthers gave up the first bucket of the game on a tough 3-pointer. They immediately jumped back with a 9-0 run. Sophomore
Micah Paulson keyed the early outbreak with a driving layup from the top of the key and then added a tough jumper a few possessions later to give the Panthers a 9-3 lead 5 minutes into the first half.
The Tigers stormed back after falling behind by six going on a 13-0 run led by a barrage of 3-pointers. This gave them a 16-9 lead with 10 minutes left. Paulson stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer. The shot sparked the Panthers who would responded with back-to-back 3 pointers by juniors
Parker Davidson and
Jeff Ross.
Back and forth play would ensue but as the half came to a close Iowa Wesleyan went on a 10-2 run to build a lead of 36-30 at halftime.
Coming out of the recess, senior
Adaku Anumu hit a 3-pointer but the Tigers continued to build their lead and pushed it to nine with just over 16 minute left. Freshman
TreVaughn Goodman converted on a layup to cut the deficit to five a few minutes later, his first points of the game and sign of things to come as the half would progress. The Panthers fought back from the nine point hole as they got two buckets from Goodman and a layup from Paulson and a couple of free throws from Anumu. With 13 minutes left the Panthers had regained the lead 51-50.
The teams traded buckets for about a three minute stretch until the Tigers had another offensive burst and ended up building a lead once again, this time it had ballooned to 10 points and the Panthers looked to be in trouble with eight minutes left.
The team never got down however and started to rally. The comeback was ignited by a 3-pointer from Davidson. Up next Goodman got a bucket in translation and then
Jeff Ross laid in a beautiful finger roll and got fouled. Ross hit the free throw to pull within three. The next possession Davison got a steal and tossed it to Goodman and within in a matter of moments the Panthers had cut a 10 point deficit to one with just over six minutes left to play.
The Panthers regained the lead with five minutes left after a Goodman layup and subsequent foul. The Tigers kept battling though and with 2:28 left the game was tied for the sixth time.
The Panthers took the lead for the final time on a
Micah Paulson layup with two minutes left. This was followed by another Goodman layup. The Tigers would then be forced to foul. The Panthers were a bit shaky at the line coming down the stretch. Up three with six seconds left the Tigers dribbled the length of the floor and launched a rainbow 3-pointer toward the heavens, when it came down it hit the rim and bounced out and the Panthers had secured themselves a major road win.
The Panthers were led by a monstrous second half performance by Goodman who had all of his 17 points in the second period.
Davidson had another double-double as he had 12 points and a incredible 15 rebounds. Anumu had a smooth 23 and Paulson added 19 points and 8 assists.
The Panthers move to 2-1 in conference and 1-0 on the road in league play. Up next the Panthers travel to Eureka to take on the Red Devils in what should be a good battle.
