Elsah, IL—The Principia Men's Basketball team played host to the Eureka College Red Devils in their second conference game of the season. The Panthers were looking to even their conference record at 1-1 with a win in this one, but a strong offensive push from Eureka coupled with Principia's inability to get stops ultimately ended with a 112-93 defeat for the Panthers.
Eureka got out to a very quick start as big-man Jaedon Banks converted two free-throws on the first possession of the game to give Eureka the quick 2-0 lead before senior Trevaughn Goodman responded with a slashing lay-up to even the game at 2-2 after both teams' first possession. Unfortunately for the Panthers that was the last time the game was tied, as Eureka roared off on an 8-0 run before sophomore Clark Davidson cut the lead back down to just two points after three strong lay-ups he converted off of nice passes from his slashing teammates. Eureka quickly responded with another eight point run that stretched their lead back to double digits as the two teams continued to trade blows throughout the first half. After a lay-up from Eureka's Austyn Ellison with nine minutes remaining in the half they had stretched their lead to 17, equaling their largest lead to that point. The Panthers did not go away however, and within just three minutes had cut the Red Devil lead back down to eight points. Another Eureka run before the half saw the Red Devils head into the locker room with 56-44 lead over the Panthers.
Coming out of the half, the Panthers wanted to begin to chip away at the Red Devil lead and get themselves back in the game with a renewed sense of urgency on defense. On the first play of the half, sophomore Payton Sellers took a strong drive baseline and converted a lay-up to bring the Panthers within 10, but unfortunately the Panther defense was unable to get many stops on the other end of the court. The Panthers cut the lead to nine after a Goodman free-throw with 17 minutes left, but that was the closest they got for the rest of the contest. Eureka went on to shoot a very high percentage from the floor and the Panthers were unable to string enough stops together to get themselves back in the game. When the final buzzer sounded the Panthers fell by a score of 112-93.
Good to Know—Clark Davidson had a huge day for the Panthers as he collected another double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds in just 29 minutes. TreVaughn Goodman poured in 18 points of his own and freshman Jake Erickson, in his first action of the season, knocked down his first three-point attempt of the year, giving him his first points scored in a Principia uniform.
Next Up—The Panthers will be home next Saturday as they host the Blackburn College Beavers in their next conference matchup. The game is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm. See you there!
