Elsah, IL—The Principia Panthers played host to the Eureka College Red Devils in a SLIAC matchup where both teams were in need of a win. Coming off of a disappointing loss in their last contest, the Panthers were hoping to get back on the winning side of things, and after an exciting 40 minutes, the Panthers would ultimately prevail over the Red Devils by a score of 89-78.
The Panthers would get off to another hot start in this one with the help of Freshman
Zack Matters. Just two minutes into the game Matters drilled a three from the wing and then on the next possession he would follow with a 3-pointer from the corner to get the Panther scoring started. Eureka had come to play as well however, and after two 3-pointers from Hank Thomas and jumpers from Alex Weigand and Dakota Bennington, the Red Devils led 12-6 with 17 minutes left in the half. With 12 minutes left to go, Eureka held the lead by 1 until Senior
Evan Eisenauer checked into the game and immediately hit a running floater off of the glass to give the Panthers the lead. That basket would spark a run for the Panthers that unfortunately would not last very long. The Red Devils responded with a run of their own, and after a jumper from Bennington, the Red Devil lead would be pushed up to 6 with four minutes left in the half. The rest of the half would belong to the Panthers however as they were able to string together some stops on the defensive end, and after a lay-up from Freshman
Clark Davidson, the Panthers would head into the locker room with a 42-41 lead.
Coming out of half, the Panthers quickly stretched their lead on the Red Devils. A lay-up from
Micah Paulson, another 3-pointer from
Zack Matters, and a lay-up from
Brennan Paulson would stretch the Panther lead up to 8 just 2 minutes into the half. To compound the troubles for the Red Devils, the big guns for the Panthers came to play in the second half as the scoring started to open up for both
TreVaughn Goodman and
Micah Paulson, the Panthers two leading scorers. Slashing lay-up after lay-up for Goodman and tough shots drilled by
Micah Paulson kept the Red Devils at bay and started to open up an even bigger lead for the Panthers. The defense was also much improved in the second half as Eisenauer would come up with some big steals, and big- men Davidson and Brantingham would come down with some big rebounds for the Panthers as well. The Red Devils were never able to make a complete run to cut the Panther lead down, and after the final buzzer the Panthers would prevail 89-78.
Good To Know
All 5 starters for the Panthers would finish with double figure scoring tonight as this was a complete team win. Off the bench,
Nathan Brantingham would contribute 6 huge points for the Panthers and Senior Even Eisenauer would come up big with 3 steals and a block that sparked the Panther run in the first half.
Up Next
The Panthers will travel to Fulton, Mo to take on the Westminster College Blue Jays in their next SLIAC matchup this Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm.
