It may have seemed like a David vs Goliath type of matchup between the Division 2 McKendree University Bearcats and the Division 3 Principia Panthers tonight, but it didn't fully play out that way.
Despite losing by a final score of 88-63, the Principia men's basketball team opened their season strongly, playing the higher division Bearcats tough and leaving the final scoreline looking more than respectable.
McKendree came out playing a strong, physical game in the first half, looking to put the Panthers on their heels by using their size inside. Principia responded early by going up 8-6 nearly 5 minutes into the first half, but that would be the last lead held by the Panthers all night.
The Bearcats immediately went on a 14-0 run that put them up 20-8 and never looked back from there, heading into the first half locker room up 45-26 and then breezing through the second half.
"We came out a little flat as a team tonight," senior forward Parker Davidson commented. "We definitely need to work on our transition defense and being able to communicate and match up. We just need to start sharper."
Led offensively by guards Giovanni Offard and Justin Blanks - who poured in 18 and 16 points respectively - the Bearcats simply out-muscled and out-paced Principia en route to the 25 point victory. It wasn't until late in the game, when Principia finished on a 19-10 scoring run fueled by Micah Paulson's hot shooting, that the Panthers were able to really get themselves in a good offensive rhythm.
When asked about the physicality tonight, sophomore guard TreVaughn Goodman noted that, "they made the speed of the game a lot faster than we were used to, which made it hard to get into the offense we like to run."
And, to his point, Principia turned the ball over 25 times on the offensive end, significantly more than the team's set goal of fewer than 12 turnovers per game. There were some careless passes and some good defensive pressure from McKendree, as was also noted by Goodman.
"It was a mixture of both," said the Plantation, FL native when asked about the turnovers. "The high pressure defensively they put on us made it uncomfortable to get into our offense and we made mistakes."
Leading the way offensively tonight for Principia was junior guard Micah Paulson, who poured in a game high 27 points on an impressive 5-11 display from behind the arc while also dishing out 4 assists and swiping 2 steals as well. Goodman finished 2nd on the team in points tonight with 13, going 4-4 from the floor, while Parker Davidson led the team in rebounds with 13.
The Panthers showed a lot of heart tonight, pulling together while being down by significant margins and never letting the deficit get higher than 33. McKendree bossed the play for long stretches at times but Principia didn't let the score get super out of hand and pulled together for some impressive stretches of play themselves.
"Our composure was a big takeaway tonight," Davidson told me. "We came out flat as a team and got lulled into that Division 2 team pressure, but we also had a lot of good offensive and defensive possessions that we can take away from tonight's game and build on."
I mentioned in the pregame about how important the rebound battle would be tonight and will be for Principia all season, and it certainly was a battle tonight. McKendree came out on the high side by a tally of 45-34 due to the sheer athleticism of their guards and the size of their 6'10" and 6'9" big men, but senior forward Jeff Ross fought hard, something that the team will need from him all season long.
"Tonight was great preparation for what we can expect to see from bigs throughout the season," Ross commented when asked about guarding McKendree's big men. "We've been working a lot in practice on contesting shots and rebounds in the post and tonight was a great opportunity to implement that work."
When comparing this game to last season's season opening game against Division 2 Missouri S&T, it's easy to find plenty of reasons to be optimistic about tonight's performance from Principia. Not only was the score tonight significantly closer, but the Panthers played much better as a team and were much more cohesive and synergized on both ends of the floor.
"Oh, by far," said Davidson when asked whether tonight's game was better than last season's blowout at Missouri S&T. "We're so far ahead right now compared to this time last year. We know we're good, we just have to realize that as a team and need more time to put it all together. But I'm really happy with how tonight turned out overall."
Looking ahead, Principia's next game isn't until the home opener on Tuesday, November 21st against Washington University (St. Louis). Tonight was a fantastic test before that game and the Panthers will look to put it all together before what could turn out to be a fun ride through the conference schedule.
Davidson's last comments echoed the overall sentiment of tonight's game. The scoreline doesn't look particularly flattering to Principia, but the team played well overall tonight and is in a confident position going forward.
David didn't slay Goliath tonight, but he began honing the tools he needs to win his next 20+ fights down the road. Tonight was only the beginning for the Principia College men's basketball team, so buckle up for a fun season.
The tough climb back to the top has begun.
