Greenville, IL—The Principia Men's Basketball team traveled to Greenville, IL to take on the Greenville University Panthers in another SLIAC conference matchup this afternoon. Greenville continues to run what is known as "the system", so the already short-handed Panthers knew they were in for a track meet of a game today.
Starting out the first half, Greenville quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Barry Nixon knocked down a 3-pointer off the backboard, and both teams were off to the races after that. The Panthers game plan coming into this game was to force tough shots from Greenville and execute their press break on offense in order to get easy lay-ups on the other end. This plan was executed seamlessly as the Panthers forced Greenville in to tough shot after tough shot, and the Panthers shared the wealth on the offensive end resulting in a lead for the Panthers as both teams walked into the locker room for halftime. The Panthers held a narrow 3-point lead and knew that they were going to have their work cut out for them in order to maintain that lead in the second half.
Coming out of the half, the Panthers, a little tired but determined, knew that they would have to execute their game plan to perfection if they wanted to continue to play well in this game. Unfortunately for the Panthers, a sluggish start and multiple turnovers was not what they were looking for to start the half. Even with the sluggish start, the Panthers were able to hold their lead for the first three minutes of the half, but at the 16:56 mark, a 3-pointer from Greenville's Kameron Vinsel would put Greenville up for good. For the remainder of the half, the Panthers would never let Greenville's lead stretch too far ahead, and every single one of the Panthers did an outstanding job giving everything they had all game long. As the final horn sounded in this one, Greenville would take the win by a score of 120-111.
Good to Know- There were multiple outstanding performances by the Panthers today, and every single player that touched the court made a significant contribution to the team's success this afternoon. Senior
TreVaughn Goodman had a monster game with 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists. Sophomore
Clark Davidson also had a monster game for the Panthers as he poured in 28 points, 16 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Up Next- The Panthers will be at home this Tuesday for another conference matchup as they host the MacMurray College Highlanders at 7:30 pm.
