Mt. Pleasant, IA. -- The Principia Panthers traveled to Mt. Pleasant, IA to play their first conference game of the season against Iowa Wesleyan. The Panthers came into the game having lost their first 3 games of the season. Two of the losses were overtime losses with the third loss to nationally ranked Washington University. The Iowa Wesleyan Tigers came into the game 0-6 with losses to some top competition. The Tigers are led by Brock Butler who is averaging 27 points per game.
The game started off a little slow as both teams tried to get a feel for each other. The majority of the first half was a see saw affair as both teams exchanged baskets on each end of the floor. The Panthers' offense was clicking but the defensive intensity allowed the Tigers to keep up. Seven minutes into the game both teams were deadlocked at 11 apiece. A three pointer by
Micah Paulson gave Principia a 14-11 lead. Unfortunately, back to back turnovers and a missed shot allowed the Tigers to score six unanswered points and take a 17-14 lead. The back and forth battle continued for the remainder of the first half until
TreVaughn Goodman made a right hand floater just as the first half buzzer went off to give Principia the 42-40 lead.
After halftime the Panthers wanted to make a bigger effort to lock in defensively and pull away in the game. But once again the back and forth battle continued for the first 4 minutes of the second half leaving a 46-46 tie. Two left handed post moves by
Parker Davidson and a free throw by
TreVaughn Goodman gave the Panthers a 5 point lead which Principia would not give up for the remainder of the game.
The game hung in the balance of 5-7 points in favor of the Panthers for 5 minutes before Principia was able to push the lead to 11 with several defensive stops and layups on the other end. The game finished with an 85-78 victory for the Principia Panthers.
Notable Performance:
TreVaughn Goodman led the way for the Panthers with 17 second half points to give him 28 total points for the game.
Parker Davidson added a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Micah Paulson added 12 big rebounds from the point guard spot while
Jeff Ross added 15 points.
They said it:
"We struggled with our defensive energy in the first half which allowed the game to be close. In the second half we were able to pick up our intensity on defense which fueled our offense. We are grateful to walk away with a win but will get right back at it tomorrow."
~ Head Coach
Todd Zimmerman
Up Next:
The Principia Panthers travel to St. Louis to play their second conference game versus Webster University at 2 pm.
