GALESBURG, IL - This afternoon, the Principia Panthers traveled to Galesburg, Illinois to take on the Knox College Prairie Fire. Both teams had played five games coming into this match up, with Knox being 3-2 and Principia being 2-3. Thus far, Knox has played two teams from the Panthers SLIAC Conference and are coming off a win against Principia's next Saturday opponent in Grinnell College. This match up really showed that the Panthers can compete well with any of the teams they come up against this season, as they dominated the last eight minutes of the game to win 71-54.
To start the game, Principia got on the board first with a bucket from
Shemarri Miles, who drove baseline and converted a lay up over his defender. Defensively, the Panthers made it tough for Knox to get things going, as the entire team was locked in on their assignments on the defensive end of the court. The Panthers defensive energy kept them in the contest in the first half even though their offense was sputtering at times. With only a couple of minutes remaining in the half, the Panthers were down by 4 to Knox. However, after a lay up from
Clark Davidson and back to back defensive stops,
AJ Byrd hit a three pointer to give the Panthers a 4 point lead at the half, 27-23.
The second half began with a couple of buckets for the Prairie Fire, but Principia stayed the course and continued to be solid.
AJ Byrd hit a step back three in the corner to beat the shot clock, and put the Panthers back in front 30-27. Principia kept the lead for five minutes until the the Prairie Fire made their final run to take their last lead of the game, 39-38. The Panthers grit took over from there, and after some crucial free throws,
Shemarri Miles knocked down a three to put them up five points with 5:30 left in the game. After that bucket, the Panthers started clicking on all cylinders, finishing defensive possessions with rebounds, drawing some clutch offensive charges, and finishing with some buckets on the offensive end of the court. Principia really started to get rolling offensively for the last 4 minutes of the game, knocking down threes, moving the ball well, and making drop off passes for some points in the paint to take a substantial lead on the Prairie Fire. The Panthers finished the game with a 71-54 win, and moved their record on the season to 3-3.
Good To Know:Â Guard
Jake Kampf played a season with Knox College prior to transferring to Principia, and finished the game with 11 points and 7 assists.
Clark Davidson led the Panthers in scoring with 19 points and chipped in with 6 rebounds. Finally,
AJ Byrd finished the game with 15 points and 7 assists.
Up Next: The Panthers play at home on Tuesday December 7th at 7 PM, against Concordia Seminary. Come pack the house and support the team!
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