Elsah, IL—The Principia Men's Basketball team was back in action on their home court as they hosted the Lincoln Christian Red Lions in another non-conference clash. The Panthers were coming off a disappointing three-point loss in their last matchup and hoped to get back on track and grab their first win of the season against the Red Lions. After a back and forth affair the Panthers emerged victorious in this one, 87-81.
The game got off to a very quick start for the Panthers as sophomore Payton Sellers won the tip-off and A.J. Byrd raced down the lane untouched to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead just five seconds into the game. After a three-pointer from Sellers and two free throws from sophomore Clark Davidson, the Panthers rolled out to a 7-0 lead just two minutes into the game and were clicking on all cylinders on both ends of the court. After a few minutes of rushed offense Lincoln Christian eventually found their footing on the offensive end as Garrett Aeilts hit his first of 11 three-pointers on the night to get the Red Lions on the board. The first half was a half of runs as both teams raced out to five point leads before the other responded with a mini run of their own. With two minutes left in the half, slashing lay-ups from Byrd and TreVaughn Goodman pushed the lead to six for the Panthers as the teams headed into the locker room for halftime.
Coming out of the half the Panthers wanted to take control of the game and win the first five minutes to prevent Lincoln Christian getting back into the game. Unfortunately that was not the case, as the Red Lions' Cornelius Lawhorn knocked down two free throws before Aeilts hit another three-pointer to bring them within a point just one minute into the second half. However, like they had done all game the Panthers responded, as sophomore Zack Matters drilled a three-pointer from the corner and Goodman followed that up with a steal and a lay-up that continued to put pressure on the Red Lions early in the half. While neither team could grasp a lead large enough to hold for any significant amount of time, the Panthers began to tighten up on defense as the half wore on and continued to execute on the offensive side of the floor as well. After a half full of lead changes with almost every basket, the Panthers found themselves up by two with 55 seconds remaining. After a Red Lions missed jumper and a rebound by Goodman, the Panthers knocked down free throws to ice the game and win their first game of the season by a score of 87-81.
Good to Know—Two Panthers finished with a double-double tonight as TreVaughn Goodman finished with 34 points and 10 rebounds, while Clark Davidson finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Brennan Paulson also poured in 14 points in 26 minutes off of the bench for the Panthers.
Up Next—The Panthers will travel to Lebanon, IL to take on McKendree University in an exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
