Elsah, IL—The Principia Men's Basketball team played host to the Berea College Mountaineers in the Panther's opening game of the 2019-2020 campaign. The Panthers were hoping to get their season started with a win on their home court, but poor shooting would ultimately be their downfall as the Panther fell to the Mountaineers by a score of 72-69.
The first half got off to a good start for the Panthers as senior Trevaughn Goodman picked up right where he left off last season, slashing down the middle for a basket to give the Panthers the early 2-0 lead, and would follow that with another lay-up the next time down the court. After that other Panthers started chipping in as well. Sophomore Clark Davidson got on the board with a nice finish underneath the basket and Sophomore Zack Matters followed that up with a nice finish of his own. The Panthers came out playing some very solid defense against Berea tonight, and with 7:14 left in the half the score was 20-19 after a lay-up by Goodman. Immediately after, the Mountaineers Jair Jackson slashed through the lane for a bucket to put the Mountaineers up by 1, and that was the last time the Panthers had the lead this game. After more back and forth scoring for the last seven minutes the Panthers headed into the locker room down just two points, 35-33.
Coming out of the half the Panthers wanted to continue digging in on the defensive end, but also wanted to find their rhythm on the offensive side of the ball where they had been struggling throughout the first half. After a bucket from the Mountaineers to open the second half scoring, the Panthers responded with a deep 3-pointer from sophomore Payton Sellers and a lay-up by Davidson that cut the lead to one just 4 minutes into the half. After that run however, the Panthers saw their deficit increase as Berea's Kevion Hudson scored 8 of the next 13 points for the Mountaineers to give them a 56-46 advantage with just over seven minutes left in the half. The Panthers would not give up however, and after some great hustle plays on defense and some timely shooting, a 3-pointer from Sophomore AJ Byrd brought the Berea lead down to just two with 15 seconds left on the clock. The Panthers were forced to foul, and after Berea hit both free throws the Panthers were unable to complete the comeback before time expired.
Good To Know—The Panthers were lead in scoring by senior TreVaughn Goodman with 23 points, Payton Sellers chipped in 14 points of his own, and Clark Davidson finished with a near double-double recording 11 points and 9 rebounds for the Panthers.
Up Next—The Panthers will be at home for their next game on Tuesday night when they play host to visiting Knox College in Hay Field House. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
