ELSAH, IL - On Saturday afternoon, the Principia Men's Basketball team won another nail-biter on a game-winner at the buzzer! Unlike their buzzer beater just under two weeks ago at Westminster, this time junior
AJ Byrd was the hero, and it happened in front of Principia's home crowd.
The Panthers were playing against their fellow SLIAC Panthers, Greenville University. Principia was coming off their first conference road loss on Thursday, and they were looking to turn things around and get their first conference home win. Greenville has yet to win a conference game this season, but they've lost a lot of close games and are more talented than their record suggests. Principia came in searching for a spark to get back on track after two straight losses. Greenville was the right opponent to get the offense going as their unique system regularly gives up over 100 points. This was the two Panther teams' second meeting this season, with Principia coming out on top on January 4th – a game that featured
Nathan Brantingham's 49 point performance.
Principia came in with a good game plan as they expected a fast paced offense and aggressive defense from Greenville, but were pretty flat with their energy early on in the game. They got lucky on multiple possessions where Greenville missed some open jump shots. Principia was able to score on a lot of buckets inside from
Nathan Brantingham and
Clark Davidson, and they spent most of the first half with the lead. However, they were never able to pull away and continued to let Greenville stay in the game. Over the final two minutes, Principia went on a little run as they tightened up defensively to go up by seven at halftime.
The break did Greenville well as their shots started falling as Principia really struggled to get stops. Over the first ten minutes of the half, Greenville outscored Principia 38-20 to go up 11 points, and were in good position to get their first SLIAC win of the season. It became crucial for Principia to have strong defensive possessions and hold the line so that they could make a run offensively. Principia began to claw back into the game as freshman
Charley Hoffman provided a spark off the bench, going 5/5 from the field for 11 points.
Jake Kampf also made some clutch 3s down the stretch to help close the deficit. After still finding themselves down by nine with five minutes left, Principia locked in defensively and went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take the lead 106-105.
Both teams traded late buckets, and after a tough layup from
Clark Davidson off an offensive rebound to tie the game at 110, Principia needed a stop. Greenville missed their first attempt on a driving layup, but an offensive rebound gave them another shot. Greenville kicked it out for a three, but the shot bounced off the rim. With both teams fighting for the important rebound, the ball was tipped five times, and just as it was about to go out of bounds, Davidson grabbed the ball and heaved it over multiple defenders to Byrd with five seconds left. Byrd dribbled quickly down the court and pulled up with his toes on the three point line for a one final contested shot. Byrd's aim was true, and the buzzer sounded just as the ball went in sending Hay Field House into a frenzied celebration. Principia has swept Greenville and moves to 4-3 on the conference season and 8-8 overall.
Watch the crazy sequence and AJ's incredible moment unfold below called by student commentator Chris Strong.
Good To Know: Not only did Byrd win the game, but he finished the game with his first career triple double scoring 28 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 10 assists.
Clark Davidson finished just one assist away form a triple double of his own with 24 points, 14 boards, and 9 assists. Two other Panthers finished with point totals in the 20s:
Nathan Brantingham with 24 points plus 6 boards, and 20 points from
Jake Kampf, who made 6 threes.
Up Next: The Panthers play the Westminster Blue Jays at home on Tuesday at 6:00 pm. Come support the team and wear black for a blackout theme night! If you can't make it, check out the stream on the Men's Basketball schedule.
