Box Score Elsah, Ill-Tonight was Senior Night for the Principia Panthers as they honored their three senior players and one senior coach.
Joey Sander, a senior guard from Camarillo, California is a two year letter winner for Principia. This season, he was named captain for his hard working mentality. Steve Hammond, a senior forward from St. Louis, Missouri is a three year letter winner for Principia. He joined the team starting his sophomore year, and has been instrumental as an energy guy off the bench.
Connor Savoye, a senior guard from St. Louis, Missouri is a four year letter winner for Principia. Savoye was named captain his junior year and has been a vital cog for the Panthers all four years he has played. Lastly,
Larry Patterson, a senior from England, Arkansas was honored. Patterson has helped as student coach for the Panthers this season.
The Panthers wanted to come out aggressive against the Fontbonne Griffins and get a win for their seniors. Principia was able to do just that, as they executed their offense well all night, consistently keeping Fontbonne at bay. At the final buzzer, Principia was able to earn the 85-75 victory, giving the seniors a great memory of their final game played in Hay Field House.
Principia started off the game feeding the ball to
Justin Ball down low. Ball responded with the first 8 points for Principia. Fontbonne hung around, eventually tying the game at 24. Principia then went on a quick 7-0 run with back to back threes from
Parker Davidson and
Adaku Anumu. A huge three pointer right before the half from
Jeff Ross gave Principia the 39-32 lead going into the break.
The Panthers came out flat in the second half, immediately allowing Fontbonne to tie the game up at 43. A lay up from Steve Hammond gave the Panthers some life, starting a 6-0 run to give the Panthers the 49-43 lead. Principia would eventually stretch the lead out to a game high 15 on another three pointer from Ross. Fontbonne stayed close, closing the gap to seven, but a lay up and then a three pointer from
Justin Ball proved to be the nail in the coffin, as Principia came away with the 85-75 win.
Stand out performances came from Ball, who patrolled the paint, scoring 28 points along with 10 rebounds.
Adaku Anumu finished with 20 points off the bench, and
Parker Davidson had 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals.
Jeff Ross was a huge difference off the bench, finishing with 12 points on 4-4 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. And in his final home game,
Joey Sander did a great job distributing the ball, finishing with 7 assists and zero turnovers.
Congratulations to all our seniors on their great careers. The Panthers finish up their season at Westminster College on Saturday, February 20th at 3:00 PM.
