HONOLULU, HI – The Principia Men's Basketball team traveled to the island of Oahu to compete in the 2022 Hoops in Hawaii Holiday Classic. The Panthers flew into Honolulu on Thursday after finals and spent a couple of days sight seeing and getting acclimated to the four hour time difference. Although the trip is filled with fun and team bonding, the Panthers also came to play some basketball.
In the first matchup of the tournament, the Panthers faced off against the Oglethorpe University Stormy Petrels (GA) on Saturday at 11 AM local time. Principia came into the game with a 6-2 record, while Oglethorpe was 3-4 before today's action. Principia came out on fire and raced out to a 16-6 lead. This lead stayed around 10 for the duration of the first half, as Principia went into the break up 43-34. After a 16-3 run by Oglethorpe to start the second half, Principia fell behind 50-46. A quick 5-0 run by
Payton Sellers got the Panthers on the right track, as they regained the lead. Principia would ride this momentum all the way to the finish as they came away with the 78-68 victory.
The Panthers came out hot, as
Jaquan Adams and
Jake Kampf took control of the first half. Adams was a load to stop inside, as he dominated the paint on his way to 8-10 shooting and 16 first half points. Kampf controlled the game from the outside, as his three-point shooting helped spread out the defense and allowed for Adams to dominate down low. Kampf had 11 first half points on 3/4 shooting from three-point range. The lead twice reached 13 on a layup from
Nathan Brantingham and a jumper from
Clark Davidson, but Oglethorpe battled back to cut it down to a 9 point game at the break.
The first 4:07 in the second half was almost the Panthers' undoing. Oglethorpe took control of the game and a barrage of three pointers gave them a 50-46 lead. After a timeout, Principia settled down and was able to control the game on both ends of the court. The Panthers steadily increased their lead all the way up to 8, but Oglethorpe was able to get it back down to 5 points with just over four minutes left. A huge three pointer and layup by
Clark Davidson put the lead back to 10 points and gave Principia the breathing room they needed to get the victory, 78-68.
Good to Know: Jaquan Adams again led the way for Principia with 20 points, while
Jake Kampf was right behind him with 19 points on 5/6 from beyond the arc.
Clark Davidson chipped in with 15 points and 9 rebounds, while
Nathan Brantingham had a huge 11 rebounds to lead the Panthers. Principia held Oglethorpe to 18 points the last 15:53 of the game to allow them to improve to 7-2 on the season.
Up Next: Principia turns right around and plays Gallaudet University on Sunday morning at 11:00 am HT (3:00 pm CT).
