St. Louis, MO- The Principia Men's Basketball team traveled to nearby Fontbonne University to take on a tough conference opponent on Saturday December 8, 2018. Coming into the game Fontbonne was 1-1 in conference play while Principia is still looking for their first win. A brutal start to the game for the Panthers ultimately cost them as Fontbonne would win 91-75.
Frontbonne came out of the gates hot and took advantage of some poor Panther defense to jump out to an earl 10-2 lead.
Brennan Paulson was able to stop the early offensive run with a three pointer on a great pass from brother
Micah Paulson. Just as Principia began to get in the game, Luke Deline for Fontbonne hit consecutive three pointers to stretch the lead once again. As the first half continued Principia struggled on both ends of the floor and the game began to slip away. With 4 minutes left in the first half Fontbonne opened up a massive 26 point lead and had the game well in hand. The Panthers were able to cut the lead by three points and head into the locker room trailing 26-49.
To start the second half the Paulson brothers sparked the Panthers as they combined for the first 10 points of the second half.
Brennan Paulson continued his good second half with good defense followed by cashing a three pointer on the other end. Principia continued their great second half rally as they were able to cut the lead down to 10 points just 8 minutes into the second half on a layup by
TreVaughn Goodman. Over the next few minutes the game held fairly even as each team exchanged buckets on either end of the floor. Fontbonne was able to stop the Panther run with an offensive rebound and timely shooting. The lead ballooned back up to 16 points but the Panthers battled back once again and cut it back down to 11 just minutes later. Down the stretch Fontbonne was able to hold their lead as Principia couldn't make enough plays to overcome the big first half deficit. Fontbonee University would win the game 91-75.
Notable Performances:
Micah Paulson led all scorers with 27 points as well as dishing out 7 assists. Three other players also contributed double digit scoring,
TreVaughn Goodman had 22,
Brennan Paulson had 14 and
Clark Davidson with 10 points.
Up Next:
The Panthers take a short break for final exams before they return home to face Iowa Wesleyan University at 3pm.
