Elsah, IL—The Panthers played host to the Greenville University Panthers in their latest conference matchup this season. Running what is known as the "system," Greenville plays an up-tempo game which the Panthers knew they needed to be ready for this evening. Unfortunately, Greenville's offense and pressure was too much for the Panthers as they fell by a score of 124-100.
As stated earlier, Greenville's style of play consists of a scheme designed to push the pace of the game and put pressure on the opposing team at a suffocating rate. The Panthers faced this pressure early and often and committed five turnovers in the first four minutes of the game, sparking an early 12-5 run for Greenville from which they never looked back. Throughout most of the first half Principia was able to keep within striking distance of Greenville, and with eleven minutes until halftime sophomore AJ Byrd slashed through the lane for a lay-up. That brought the Greenville lead down to just four points, the closest the game would be all half. After that however, Greenville ratcheted up the pressure again, forcing turnovers and creating second chance opportunities that helped grow their lead to fourteen points. The Panthers headed into the locker room down 56-42.
Coming out of the half, the Panthers wanted to be more secure with the ball and focus on their rebounding to get themselves back in the game. They came out of halftime playing well as Byrd, along with sophomores Clark Davidson and Payton Sellers all connected on lay-ups to string together a 6-0 run, bringing the Greenville lead down to just eight points early on. Once again however, turnovers and an inability to keep Greenville off the offensive glass allowed them go on another run and stretch their lead to 19 points with ten minutes remaining. Principia tried to muster a couple of solid series throughout the remainder of the game but were never truly able to break through the Greenville pressure. After another run towards the end of the half the Panthers found themselves down big, ultimately falling to Greenville, 124-100.
Good to Know— Sophomore AJ Byrd had a career high day for the Panthers today as he finished with 31 points to go along with 6 assists and 8 rebounds. Sophomore Nathan Brantingham also had a career day as he totaled 20 points to go along with 5 rebounds, and Senior TreVaughn Goodman recorded his third triple-double in a Panther uniform, finishing with 11 points, 16 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Up Next—The Panthers will travel to Jacksonville, IL to take on the MacMurray Highlanders in their next conference matchup on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
