Elsah, IL—Tonight the Panthers played host to the Knox College Prairie Fire in their second game of the season in Hay Field House. The Panthers were coming off a 3-point home loss on Saturday and hoped for a better performance to even their season record at 1-1. Unfortunately a strong second half by Knox and another night struggling to shoot wound up being the downfall for the Panthers, as they fell 72-61 to the Prairie Fire.
The first half got off to a quick start for the Panthers as Senior TreVaughn Goodman flew down the lane for a lay-up to get the Panthers on the board the very first play of the game. After a made basket by Knox the Panthers followed with a lay-up and a free throw from sophomore Clark Davidson, and another lay-up from Goodman to push their lead to 7-2 in the early going. Knox responded with a 10-0 run that put the Panthers on their heels for just a moment, but 3-pointers from sophomores Zack Matters and Kevin Wingert gave the lead back to the Panthers midway through the half. The rest of the half was a back and forth affair where neither team gained an advantage over the other, and the teams headed into the locker room tied at thirty-four.
Just like the first half, the Panthers got off to a hot start in the second half with sophomore Payton Sellers drilling a 3-pointer from the corner, and Goodman following that up with a lay-up to give the Panthers a four point lead just one minute into the half. Knox responded however, and with 16:50 left in the half Justin Windt made a slashing lay-up that gave the Prairie Fire the lead for good. The Knox lead hovered around 6 for the next 10 minutes as the Panthers never really let the game get away from them, but towards the end of the half the poor shooting got the better of the Panthers, and Knox was able to pull away and take this game by a score of 72-61.
Good To Know—Senior guard TreVaughn Goodman continued his scoring ways as he poured in 26 points to go along with 9 rebounds, and Sophomore guard Kevin Wingert made his presence felt off the bench as he drilled multiple 3-pointers to pick up 8 points in just 15 minutes of play.
Up Next—The Panthers travel to Wheaton, IL to take on Wheaton College in their first game of the Wheaton Tournament this Friday evening. The game is scheduled to start at 8:00 pm.
