Too Little Too Late for PC in Loss to Banana Slugs

If you strictly looked at it on paper, a Banana Slug would not stand a chance in a fight against a Panther. I mean, what even is a Banana Slug? But, on the Honolulu Convention Center basketball court Monday night, the unknown mascot of UC Santa Cruz reigned supreme over Principia College.
    
A point-starved 1st half saw the Panthers enter the locker room down 35-13 and looking for answers. The 2nd half went much better from a Principia perspective, finishing with a 36-31 score in favor of PC, but the halftime margin proved too tough of a hill to climb and UC Santa Cruz came away with an eventual 66-49 victory.
  
Led by TreVaughn Goodman and Micah Paulson, who poured in 16 and 17 points respectively, the Panthers simply struggled to get any sort of offensive rhythm against a tough and physical Banana Slug defense.
   
Principia only put up 51 shots on the night, well below the team's season average of 63 shots per game. In addition, the Panthers turned the ball over 17 times, a tribute to the physical, staunch opposition defense.
    
Defensively, the team continued improving, as has been the case recently. After allowing an average of 81.2 PPG over the first 5 games of the season, Principia has vastly improved that number and whittled it down to 63.6 PPG over the last 3.
    
This defensive renaissance, if you will, has been fueled by the Panthers willingness to settle into their 2-3 zone. With long and lanky guards, Principia is able to shut down a lot of passing lanes on defense, and the players' growth in willingness and understanding of the defense has been a catalyst for its marked improvement.

The problem simply remains offensively. Principia knows that only 53 points against Westminster and 49 against UC Santa Cruz aren't going to be good enough to get the team where they want to go.
    
But, the Panthers also know that they have the offensive talent and simply need to put it to use. "We just need to go out there, execute and have fun," sophomore guard TreVaughn Goodman told me. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that not everyone gets to experience and we just need to relax."
    
Principia has an opportunity to bounce right back today when they play the Pacific University Boxers at 5:45 PM Hawaii time. Here's hoping the team can relax a little bit more and go collect a 'W' to finish off their two island games.