St. Louis, MO- The Principia Panthers traveled to Webster University in St. Louis for their second conference matchup with the Gorloks. Principia came into the game 1-0 while the Gorloks were 0-1 in Conference Play. The Panthers looked to snap a 14 year drought versus Webster University with Webster winning 29 consecutive games.
Early in the game the Panthers struggled to bring the defensive energy which has seemed to be a theme. Both teams came out of the gates hot hitting shot after shot. Six minutes into the game the Gorloks were able to open a five point lead with the score 15-10. The Panthers showed their fight as they quickly erased this deficit and tied the game at 18-18 apiece. Both teams exchanged blows for the next few minutes as neither team could get a significant lead. With five minutes left in the first half the game was all knotted up at 28-28. Principia locked in defensively for the final 5 minutes and was able to build a small lead with back to back buckets by freshman
Payton Sellers. With a late basket by
Parker Davidson the Panthers took a 40-33 lead into halftime.
Once again Principia came out of half time without the energy and execution needed to stretch their lead. Just four minutes into the second half the Gorloks were able to tie the game back up at 42-42 and a little over a minute later Webster took a 5 point advantage. Principia fought right back with a block by
Jeff Ross followed by a bucket to spark another comeback. At the 8:26 mark left in the second half the Panthers were able to take an 11 point lead and looked to have a firm grip on the game.
In the closing minutes of the game Principia lost some of their composure and had 4 crucial turnovers which allowed Webster right back in the game. Webster stole the ball consecutive possessions ending with 6 points to put them up by 2 with 1:30 left in the game. Webster would not give up the lead as the Panthers failed to execute on either ends of the floor down the stretch. A last second 3 point shot was too late leaving the game in a 75-78 loss for Principia.
He said it
"We played well for parts of the game and had several opportunities to finish the game off but unfortunately let this one slip away. This will be a tough loss to swallow but we will look forward to learning and growing from it moving forward."
Matt Jones - Coach
Notable Performance
Parker Davidson turned in another double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds as
Micah Paulson contributed a solid 16 point 6 rebound game. Freshman
Payton Sellers supplied energy off the bench with 10 points and 4 assists.
Up Next
Elsah, IL- Principia Panthers host their second home game of the season Thursday December 7th at 7 pm versus St. Louis Christian.
