Box Score Elsah, IL---The Panthers opened up the 2017 conference schedule tonight against the Blackburn Beavers. After jumping out to an early lead and being up at the recess the Panthers struggled in the second half and ultimately fell 85-77.
The Panthers dominated the first 6 minutes of play. With a combination of suffocating defense and well-executed offense the Panthers built a 17-5 lead. The balanced scoring came from all over. Junior Captain
Parker Davidson hit a 3-pointer and
Justin Ball nailed a couple of free throws to start. After that Sophomore
Micah Paulson got in on the action with a layup and free throws. Blackburn got a bucket but it couldn't stop the Panthers scoring barrage as freshman super-sub
TreVaughn Goodman got a layup and hit a free throw.
The Beavers started to close the gap and eventually got it down to 6 with 8:35 left. Paulson responded with a tough baseline jumper to push the lead back to 8. Blackburn continued to fight the Panthers and with 4:01 left they had erased the deficit and taken the lead. The Panthers responded immediately as freshman
Jamie McFarlane nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to go back up by 2. The teams went back and forth but as time expired junior
Jeff Ross made a sweeping layup putting Principia up 40-36 up at the break.
Coming out of the locker room Ball hit a jumper to make the lead 6 points. Blackburn then went on a mini run to cut the lead to 1. Anumu hit a 3-pointer to re-establish the Panthers lead with 15:35 left to play. Over the next 4 minutes the Beavers took control going up by 6 after a 3-pointer. The Panthers then exploded on a 10-2 run with all of the points coming from Paulson and Davidson on a mix of jumpers and free throws. The Panthers then possessed a 63-60 lead with just under 9 minutes left in regulation.
Over the last few minutes of the game Blackburn re-took control of the contest and built a small lead that the Panthers could never over come despite closing the gap a few times, including getting it to 2 with a minute left. Clutch free throwing shooting down the stretch sealed it for the Beavers.
The Panthers were led by Davidson who scored 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Paulson scored 15 and handed out 3 assists as well.
Up next the Panthers travel to Saint Louis on Saturday to take on Fontbonne.
