Principia Battles but Loses Second Game of Bill Merris Tournament vs. Depauw University 97-75

Jacksonville, IL- The Principia Men's basketball team stayed in Jacksonville for the second game of the Bill Merris tournament to face off against a tough opponent in DePauw University. After a back and forth first half the Panthers couldn't hold onto the shooting of Depauw and fell 97-75.

The Panthers fell into a 7-0 hole right out of the gate due to a few miscues on the offensive end of the floor and sharp shooting by DePauw. TreVaughn Goodman got Principia on the board with a tough driving layup over multiple defenders. After a made jump shot by Principia, Depauw was able to answer back with a 5-0 run and open up a big early lead of 12-4 after 5 minutes of play. Not easy to keep down the Panthers fought back with a run of their own with consecutive stops on defense which transitioned to baskets on the other end. Brennan Paulson came down following a big defensive stop and pulled up for a three on the break to cut the lead down. With 12 minutes remaining in the first half TreVaughn Goodman was able to convert an and-one after getting fouled on the drive, to tie the game at 16-16. Principia continued to scrap defensively but a few turnovers on the offensive end allowed DePauw to pull away once again. 

The DePauw Tigers shot the ball extremely well from three and were able to go on an 11-2 run to open the game up and ultimately a 10 point lead. in the final 5 minutes of the half the Panthers stuck their foot in the ground and did not allow the lead to grow but could not cut it down either. Just before the halftime buzzer Josh Hall for the Tigers, managed to hit a contested jumper to take a 12 point lead into halftime.

The second half started off at what seemed an even faster pace and Principia was hit in the mouth early with continued good shooting by DePauw. The Tigers stretched their lead to the biggest of the game of 17 points just minutes into the second half. Once again Prin would not go quietly as the answered back with a scoring run by brothers Micah and Brennan Paulson, each hitting consecutive jumpers. Even with the continued fight the Panthers could not overcome the hot shooting of the Tigers. 

Depauw continued to shoot lights out the remainder of the game and stretched their lead as time went on. Principia showed their true grit as the continued their fight in the game but fell 97-75 in the final game of the tournament. 

Good To Know
Micah Paulson continue their great start to the season as they lead their team. Tonight Micah Paulson led all scorers with 30 points while TreVaughn Goodman was right with him with 27 points 8 rebounds and 4 assists. 

Up Next
The Panthers will come back from Thanksgiving Break and travel to DII McKendree University at 1pm on November 24th.