ELSAH, IL - On Tuesday night, the Principia Men's Basketball team hosted the Fontbonne University Griffins for a big conference battle between two 3-1 teams competing for the number two spot in the SLIAC standings. The Panthers were coming off a win against Webster on the road on Saturday.
Fontbonne won the opening tip and was able to get on the board first. Throughout much of the game, the score was very close and went back and forth. Early in the half, Fontbonne seemed to be more comfortable offensively, but the Panthers worked to force them into some tough shots. The majority of the Griffins' offense came off of offensive rebounds and turnovers from Principia. Fontbonne had a bit of a run with about 8 minutes to go in the first half, leading to their largest lead of the game 32-21. The Panthers struggled throughout the first half to get a good feel going offensively. Despite never getting too far behind, there was never much continuity or flow to their offense. Luckily, Jake Kampf and Kevin Wingert were both able to get going from behind the 3 point line to keep Principia in the game.
The Panthers came out pretty strong offensively to open the second half. It seemed things may be changing for the better, but almost every time Principia scored, the Griffins had a response. After the lead changed a few times, Fontbonne started to control the game again with about 11 minutes to go as they forced the Panthers into isolation situations. Principia ended up having a couple of players in foul trouble which made it more difficult to play aggressive on defense. The Panthers were still able to claw back on a few clutch shots down the stretch and were only down 4 points with 19 seconds to play. A missed free throw from Fontbonne led to a Principia rebound, but the Panthers were unable to retain the possession and were forced to foul, eventually losing the game, 74-67.
Good To Know: Nathan Brantingham led the Panthers with 17 points and 7 rebounds, along with some very strong defensive work in the paint all game. Other notables include AJ Byrd with 15 points and 8 rebounds, Kevin Wingert with 13 points and 5 boards, and Clark Davidson with 8 points and 10 rebounds.
Up Next: The Panthers travel to Blackburn College to play the number one team in the SLIAC conference at 7 PM! Blackburn's current policies allow very limited visiting fans to attend games on their campus, so if you're interested, email todd.zimmerman@principia.edu to reserve a spot on the guest list. The game will be streamed for those not in attendance, so check out the link on the Men's Basketball page.
