Box Score Louisville, KY.---After trailing by 24 points in the first half the Panthers came roaring back in the second half but fell late to the Spalding Golden Eagles 75-71. In the closing seconds the Panthers got a look to tie that just rattled out. It was a valiant second half effort in which the Panthers outscored the Eagles by 15 points.
The fist half started off sluggish for the Panthers who allowed Spalding to jump out to an early 13-2 lead with the lone basket for the Panthers coming from senior
Justin Ball.
Spalding continued to pour it on after the opening five minutes and the lead climbed to 23-7 with junior
Parker Davidson providing the other five points after Ball, with a layup and the Panthers only 3-point bucket of the first half.
The Panthers struggled offensively as the half wore on and Spalding was able to run the lead up to 24 points with 3:01 to play in the first. After that the Panthers began to generate a little offense. One spark came when freshman
TreVaughn Goodman picked off a pass at the top of the key and finished with a two-handed dunk. The Panthers then got a layup from Ball and two free throws from Davidson to cut the deficit to 19 at half.
The second half was a complety different story for the Panthers. They came out of the break with a renewed energy and focus. Anumu set the tone early as he ignited the offense with a 3-pointer on the first possession of the half which helped the team to an early 7-2 run cutting Spalding's lead to 14.
After a bucket from the Eagles on the following possession the Panthers went on another run that was highlighted my sophomore
Micah Paulson who got a steal and a layup and then 3-pointer. The deep ball cut the lead to 8 with 14:42 left. The Panthers kept chipping away with solid offensive play. Just under the ten-minute mark the Spalding lead had shrunk to just 5 points as Anumu hit a 3-point bucket. The Golden Eagles responded to this with a mini run as they re-established their lead to 11 points with 5:18 remaining.
The Panthers were relentless though and despite getting down double digits again kept fighting. Paulson and Anumu both heated up in final stretch and with 3:27 the lead had dwindled to 3 points after Anumu buried a step back deep ball. On the next possession Paulson hit a jumper in the lane and the lead was just one point for Spalding. After the Eagles converted on two free throws, Pauslon came down and hit another 3-pointer and the game was tied with 1:51 left. Spalding responded the very next play with a 3-pointer of their own from the corner. Following that bucket the Panthers turned it over and Spalding converted on a couple of free throws and a bucket and the Panthers were trialing by 6 with a minute left. Anumu wasn't done though, he connected again from deep followed by a steal and bucket from Paulson and the Panthers were down 1. After a timeout Spalding had the ball with 45 seconds left. The Eagles were able to get into the lane for a layup to grab a three-point lead with 21 seconds left. The Panthers had a shot to tie but an Anumu three-pointer rimmed out and the Panthers comeback bid fell short.
Paulson led the team with 22 points and 5 assists. Anumu and Davidson both had 15 points with Parker chipping in 12 rebounds as well. Ball had 10 rebounds over 39 minutes of play and Goodman had 12 points.
Up next the Panthers travel to Saint Louis to take on the Webster Gorloks.
