ELSAH, IL - Today's matchup for the Principia College Men's Basketball Team was against the current 10th ranked team in the nation, Elmhurst University. The Blue Jays came out to a hot start, raging ahead against the Panthers with a 12-2 lead early. They dominated on the offensive glass, and locked in on the defensive end of the court making it tough for Principia to get anything going. After a timeout was called the Panther's started to make their run, closing the gap to 4 points with 11 minutes left in the half after a few consecutive stops and a couple of 3 pointers from
Payton Sellers.
The Panthers came out to a slow start, but started stringing together a handful of good defensive possessions leading to some points on the offensive end of the court. They battled inside to come up with some rebounds to finish out some stops and were able to convert on offense. A couple of free throws stopped the run from the Panthers as the Blue Jays started to slowly climb ahead once again. Guards
Kevin Wingert and
AJ Byrd turned up the defensive energy again for Principia, getting stops and helping the team bring the lead back to 8 points after a couple of buckets from Byrd. The first half finished with the Panthers behind by 14 points, after a tip in from Elmhurst to beat the buzzer.
The second half was much more one sided, the Blue Jay's came out to a red hot start scoring 20 points in just the first 7 minutes of play, while the Panthers only scored 6 points. There were some good moments for the Panthers late in the second half as they fought to compete and shorten the lead. They strung together quite a few good offensive possessions with a 3 pointer and a steal from
AJ Byrd, leading to a transition dunk from
Payton Sellers. Sellers then went on to knock down a couple of free throws late, followed by a 3 pointer and another transition dunk.
In this loss the Panthers have a lot to build on, as they made huge strides forward. Even though the score shows a tough result, the team shot 50% from the field and 75% from the free throw line. The team feels encouraged knowing that they can compete with a top ranked team like the Blue Jays.
Good to know: Payton Sellers led the Panthers with 28 points, shooting 69.2% from the field, and finishing the game with 2 dunks. Followed closely by guards
AJ Byrd with 18 points and
Kevin Wingert with 17 points and 3 steals on defense.
Up next: The Panthers play next Tuesday night November 16th at 7 PM against another tough opponent in Central College (Iowa). Be sure to come and support the team as they continue to grow and work to put a solid game together this week!
