Elmhurst, IL—The Principia Men's Basketball team traveled to Elmhurst, Illinois to take on the Elmhurst College Blue Jays in their final game of the calendar year. The Panthers were looking to continue to make progress in their development and get their feet back underneath them after Christmas break before heading back into the conference schedule, but a strong showing from the Blue Jays proved too much for the Panthers as they fell by a score of 64-89.
Ranked in the top 25 in the nation, the Panthers knew the Blue jays would give them a tough game tonight, but that didn't stop this gritty team from coming out hot to start the contest. Sophomore AJ Byrd got the scoring started for the Panthers as he converted two slashing lay-ups to put the Panthers up 4-0 just one minute into the game. The Blue Jays responded however, and the game was quickly back to 4-4 as both teams traded baskets for much of the first part of the half. After some sloppy turnovers by the Panthers, Elmhurst stretched their lead to 19-10, forcing a Panther timeout to regroup and clean up their offense. Coming out of the break the Panthers responded with a 12-3 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from sophomore Payton Sellers, bringing the score to 22-22 with 10:01 left in the first half. After that however, the Panthers struggled on the offensive end and headed into the locker room at halftime down 51-32.
Coming out of the half the Panthers wanted to re-establish themselves on the offensive end and improve on the defensive end as well. The Panthers were never able to pull themselves back into the game on the scoreboard, but the team achieved the little things they hoped to improve on offensively and defensively before returning to conference play. Throughout the second half, great shooting performances from both Byrd and Sellers kept the game competitive and gave the Panthers a spark before the team heads back into conference play. When the final buzzer sounded the Panthers fell by a score of 89-64.
Good To Know—AJ Byrd led the way for the Panthers with 17 points and 4 rebounds, while Payton Sellers also added 14 points and 6 rebounds.
Next Up—The Panthers will travel to Fulton to take on the Westminster College Blue Jays in their next conference action this Saturday at 3:00 pm.
