Wheaton, IL— The Panther Men's Basketball team played in their second game of the Lee Pfund Classic in Wheaton, IL against the Franklin College Grizzlies. The Panthers got off to a very good start in this one but a last-minute run by the Grizzlies proved too much as the Panthers fell in a close one, 72-69.
The goal for the Panthers in this one was to build off of the offensive momentum they had built up in the game the previous night against Wheaton, and for most of the first half they were able to do just that. The Grizzlies got the scoring started first as Payton Mills finished two tough contested layups around the basket and Sam Gutierrez knocked down two free throws to give the Grizzlies a quick 6-0 lead. After the first couple of minutes the Panthers settled down and layups from Clark Davidson and TreVaughn Goodman got the scoring started for the Panthers. The scoring went back and forth for the next couple minutes until sophomore Payton Sellers knocked down a baseline jumper to give the Panthers their first lead of the game, 11-10 with 12 minutes left in the first half. Another lay-up from Goodman and a three-pointer from sophomore AJ Byrd gave the Panthers a 5-point lead, their largest of the game. The Grizzlies responded with a run of their own, and as the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half Franklin headed into the locker room with a 42-31 lead on the Panthers.
Coming out of the half, the Panthers wanted to slowly chip away at the Grizzlies lead and get themselves back in this game. Byrd got that scoring going as he knocked down a three-pointer to bring the Panthers within six just 19 seconds into the half. Over the next 10 minutes however, the Panthers struggled to get over that six-point hump as they were unable to string enough stops together to bring themselves all the way back. That changed at the 8:42 mark when Goodman knocked down a rare three-pointer to bring the Panthers all the way back to a 56-56 tie. Sophomore Nathan Brantingham was fouled on the next play and he converted one of two free throws to give the Panthers their first lead since the first few minutes of the game. The Panthers stretched that lead to three points with just four minutes remaining but the Grizzlies offensive rebounding proved to be the downfall of the Panthers. They were unable to keep Franklin off the boards in the last few crucial possessions of the game and Franklin took a three point lead with just 1.3 seconds remaining. Byrd hoisted a half-court shot that actually went in but was ruled dead after the buzzer had sounded, and the Panthers lost a heartbreaker 72-69.
Good to Know— Much like Friday night, the Panthers had very balanced scoring effort as four players finished with double digit scoring. TreVaughn Goodman would finish with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, AJ Byrd finished with 18 points, and Senior Brennan Paulson and Sophomore Clark Davidson both finished with 10 points each.
Up Next— The Panthers will be back home in Hay Field House on Tuesday night at 7 pm to take on the Lincoln Christian Red Lions in another non-conference matchup. We'll see you there!
