LINCOLN, IL - Tonight, the Principia Men's Basketball Team traveled across Illinois to play Lincoln Christian University. Lincoln Christian's team this season is very solid, and provided some solid competition for the Panthers during the non-conference portion of their season.
The Panthers came out holding the defensive line and getting whatever they wanted on the offensive end, moving the ball crisply and finding players cutting to the hoop. Both big men got on the board early with a couple of layups for Principia, as they got out to a 10-4 start. Although the Panthers played tough defense, they struggled to knock down shots from the outside. However, they were able to get a couple of buckets here and there to hold the lead for the first eight minutes of the half. With 12 minutes to go the Lions tied the game up, and then went on a 17 point unanswered scoring tear to give them a substantial lead.
Much of the first half was back and forth until the Lions took this lead, but the Panthers were not done yet. After a timeout called by coach
Todd Zimmerman, freshman
Riley Speidel knocked down a mid-range jumper and
Nathan Brantingham finished a lay up before the half closed, and Principia was able to fight back and get the lead down to 7 before halftime.
To start the second half, Lincoln Christian scored 6 straight points and the Panthers had a tough time knocking down shots, falling behind by 13 points. Throughout the rest of the half, Principia tried to claw back and finish out some good defensive possessions with some scoring opportunities on the other end. The lead went from 11 points down to 3 after a couple of buckets from
AJ Byrd, and a 3 pointer from
Jake Kampf. Offensively
Jake Kampf and
Kevin Wingert had some timely 3 pointers down the stretch to continue to cut the lead and close the gap for the Panthers. With 3 minutes to go the in the game, the Panthers were only down by 1 point, but Lincoln Christian was able to knock down a couple of difficult shots in the crunch and made it hard for Principia to make their comeback. The Panthers ended up falling 71-80.
Good To Know: Clark Davidson finished the game with 18 points and 7 boards.
Shemarri Miles finished the game with 8 assists from the point guard spot, and
AJ Byrd finished the contest with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Up Next: This weekend, the Panthers will take on Knox College, another team that has competed against other SLIAC competition. This will be a big game for the Panthers as they continue to grow and build their chemistry together on the court. Make sure to go the men's basketball page and find the link to follow along!
