Elsah, IL—The Panthers played host to the Spalding University Golden Eagles in their latest home conference matchup this evening. The Panthers were looking to feed off of the home crowd energy, and knock off Spalding in order to secure the SLIAC win. After a very slow and sluggish start by the Panthers that saw them down by as many as eleven points in the first half, the energy ramped up during the second half and the Panthers would come away victorious by a score of 95-91.
The start of this game could most definitely be described as slow as the Panthers really struggled to get anything going and create stops on the defensive end for most of the first half. Sophomore
Clark Davidson was ready early however, as he scored two nice lay-ups for the Panthers to give them an early 4-0 lead, and have the team feeling good. After that however, the Panthers would see Spalding climb back into the game, and not go away for the rest of the half. With 12:42 left in the half, the Golden Eagles would get a bucket from Marcus Montgomery that would give them a 17-16 lead that they would not relinquish until the second half. Spalding would take advantage of some pretty bad first half defense from the Panthers, and the lead would grow to as many as 11 with four minutes remaining in the half. The Panthers would not go away however, and after another lay-up from Davidson on their final possession, the Panthers would bring the lead down to just 6 points, and head into the locker room trailing by a score of 40-46.
Coming out of the half, the Panthers were disappointed in how they had played on the defensive end during that first half, and looked to bring some energy and get themselves back in this game. Sophomore
Payton Sellers would come out of the gate firing as he would knock down a deep 3-pointer on the Panthers first possession, and they would be rolling on the offensive end from there. With 16:01 remaining in the half, Senior
Brennan Paulson would finish a floater in the lane that would give the Panthers the 54-52 lead, and they would not relinquish that lead the rest of the game. For much of the second half, the Panthers would share the wealth on the offensive end as all 8 players that entered the game tonight scored at some point in this game. The only bad news for the Panthers however was that their defense wasn't doing them many favors, and Spalding wasn't going away just yet. With one minute remaining in the game, Marcus Montgomery would knock down a free-throw to bring the Panther lead to just two, and as the Golden Eagles hoisted up a last second shot that just missed, the Panthers would come away victorious by a score of 95-91.
Good to Know- The Panthers had balanced scoring in this one as four people finished with double figure scoring efforts.
Clark Davidson finished with 20 points,
Kevin Wingert finished with 19 points,
TreVaughn Goodman finished with 18 points, and
Payton Sellers finished with 13 points.
Up Next—The Panthers will be on the road for their next SLIAC matchup as they travel to Greenville, IL to take on the Greenville University Panthers this Saturday at 3:00 pm.
