Box Score JACKSONVILLE--Behind 28 points from freshman
TreVaughn Goodman the Panthers took down MacMurray on the road this afternoon. The Panthers and Highlanders battled back and forth the whole game eventually requiring overtime. The Panthers took control of the extra period and held on to win at the wire 90-89. The win moves the Panther's record to 9-7 in conference and puts them in a three-way tie for fourth place.
Senior
Adaku Anumu got the Panthers off to a quick start when he buried a corner three ball on the first possession of the game. MacMurray responded and the teams traded blows with the game getting knotted up at 11-11 with 14:22 remaining in the first. After that, the Highlanders went on a 24-7 run and built a 17-point lead with 7:02 left in the first half.
The Panthers woke up as the half came to a close and got a flurry of points including back-to-back buckets from junior
Parker Davidson. At the break the Panthers had worked the MacMurray lead down to just five points, 42-37.
The second half scoring opened with a layup from Goodman and a top of the arc three from Davidson to tie the game. The buckets erased the 17-point deficit the Panthers came from in the first half.
Neither team was able to build a substantial lead as the second half wore on. The Highlanders did grab a four-point lead at the 10:22 mark but the Panthers responded with free throws from Anumu and a layup from Goodman to regain control.
At the 3:24 mark MacMurray once again built a four-point lead. Goodman came through though and delivered with a floater in the lane. Anumu then hit a pair of free throws and the game was tied 75-75. After a defensive stop, Anumu hit a deep ball to put the Panthers up three with 2:24 left. The teams then traded buckets and with 21 seconds left the Panthers fouled MacMurray's Marshal Corbin up 80-79. Corbin hit the first one and missed the second. With the game tied the Panthers had multiple looks but couldn't convert and the game headed to overtime.
Senior
Justin Ball took control as the extra period started, scoring the first three buckets for the Panthers in the paint giving the team an 86-81 lead with 3:09 left. After a couple of buckets from the Highlanders and free throws from Goodman the Panthers were up by three with under a minute left. Generating a stop on the next possession, Goodman stepped to the line needing one to ice the game. He nailed the free throw and the Panthers secured a victory.
Along with his 28 points, Goodman added five boards and five assists. Anumu had 21,
Micah Paulson had 17, and Davidson added 10 points to go along with 13 boards. The win gave the Panthers a season sweep over the Highlanders.
Up next the Panthers travel to Greenville on Tuesday to face the top ranked team in the conference.
