Principia Overwhelms MacMurray in 80-52 Victory

Elsah, IL- The Principia Panthers played host to the MacMurray College Highlanders for their third conference game of the season and first home conference game of the season. The Panthers came into the game 1-1 in conference while the Highlanders sit at 0-2. Both teams were looking to bounce back from tough losses and both had a full week to prepare for today's game. Macmurray College is always a tough team to play against but the Panthers were up to the test as they came out with a resounding 80-52 victory.
 
The Panthers started out the game nervous on offense and had several turnovers to start the game. Fortunately on the defensive side of the ball they were able to string together multiple stops until the offense caught rhythm. Six minutes into the first half the stingy zone defense for Principia led to several fast break buckets and they were able to open up a seven point lead, 11-4. Following a pair of free throws by Micah Paulson and an offensive board and put back by his brother Brennan Paulson the Panthers were able to push their lead to 11 points with 8 minutes left in the first half. The Panthers first half defense was active and aggressive as they were able to hold the Highlanders to just 18 points for the first half while pushing their lead to 19 points with a score of 37-18.
 
In the second half the Panthers came out firing on offense and continued their wall up defense. The Paulson brothers both made three pointers and each had layups to spark the second half run. Just 5 minutes into the second half Principia ballooned the lead to 30 points with a score of 53-23. The Highlanders showed some fight as they were able to go on a run of their own to cut the lead down. A couple sloppy turnovers and missed shots allowed MacMurray to cut the lead back down to 17 just 5 minutes later. The lead would not fall below 17 for the remainder of the half for Principia. Parker Davidson turned up the heat defensively and turned two steals into layups on the other end to push the lead back up. Micah continued his hot offense with a few key second half threes that pushed the lead up to 32 points.
 
Principia's execution on offense and lock down defense was the key to this lopsided victory. The final score of the game was 80-52 in favor of the Panther's.
 
Notable Performance
Micah and Brennan Paulson sparked the offense today with 23 points and 5 assists for Micah while Brennan dropped a career high 16 points with 7 boards.
 
He said it
"Our defensive intensity really set the tone for how we played this afternoon. After the loss to Webster we knew that as a group we had to pick up our defense and our intensity, and we responded well to that challenge and were able to come out with a big victory."
Parker Davidson
 
Up Next
Principia has a few days off for finals but return to action Saturday December 16^th at Westminster College in Fulton, MO at 2pm.