ELSAH, IL - Tonight, the Principia Panthers faced the Central College Dutch out of Iowa, who were coming off a last second victory against Illinois College. The Panthers came ready to play from the start, as they got out to a very early lead because of their lockdown defense and ability to convert on offense. However, the Dutch fought back and managed to hold the Panthers scoreless for about 6 minutes, taking the lead at 17-15. The game was back and forth for the rest of the half with good moments from both teams, with Principia going into the locker room up one at the break.
The second half started out with back to back buckets from guard
AJ Byrd, who shot 6/8 from the field, finishing with 18 points and a couple of clutch buckets down the stretch. The Panthers continued to push ahead after a fast break lay up from Byrd going up by their largest lead 9 points, 46-37. The Dutch continued to fight back, with standing a few more buckets from the Panthers and climbing back to tie the game up at 57, with 4 minutes left to play.
The Panthers went down 2 points with about 3 minutes to go, when
Shemarri Miles was fouled, and converted both of his free throws to bring the game back to a tie. On the defensive end of the court,
Clark Davidson played lockdown defense on the leading scorer for Central, coming up with a steal and then getting the ball to
Kevin Wingert for a 3 pointer to take the three point lead. The Panthers continued to lock in on defense, forcing the Dutch into consecutive tough shots. The Panthers then went down the court and Wingert found Miles for a tough corner 3 to put the Panthers up 6. To seal the deal Principia moved the ball around on offense as Central tried to force a turnover, and Wingert was able to get the ball to Davidson for a quick floater to put the Panthers up more and lead them to victory!
Good to know: This was the first win for the Panthers, against a tough and very solid opponent. Four of the Panthers were in double figures, led by
AJ Byrd with 18, followed closely by
Clark Davidson with 13 and both players shooting 75% from the field. The team also shot 81.2% from the free throw line finishing the game 13/16.
Up next: The Panthers play their first road game in Chicago this weekend at Dominican University. The game is at 3 PM. Be sure to catch your Panthers on the live stream, which will be posted on principiaathletics.com!
