ELSAH, IL - The Principia Men's Basketball team made up their home game against the Eureka College Red Devils tonight after it was rescheduled twice due to weather and covid protocols. Eureka is currently second in SLIAC standings, and the fifth seeded Panthers are fighting to gain momentum and prepare themselves for a playoff run.
Principia came out with good energy and focus on offense, taking an early lead and not giving it up for the first nine minutes. As the half wore on, however, the Panthers' offense cooled off, which ended up affecting their defense. Eureka was able to get some foul calls and started getting going at the free throw line. Principia struggled more on defense than on offense, but their inability to get stops had them down by 11 at the half.
The Panthers locked in to start the second half and cut the Red Devils' lead to five after a couple of 3-pointers from
Shemarri Miles and
Clark Davidson in the first three minutes. Principia's mini run forced Eureka to call a timeout which allowed them to settle back in. The Red Devils started attacking Principia more aggressively, drawing fouls and hitting open shots as they quickly extended their lead to 16. The Panthers continued to fight to climb back into the game, and although they made a few runs here and there, the Red Devils' potent offense was too much to overcome. Eureka stayed ahead for the remainder of the game, winning by a final score of 96-79 and handing Principia their fourth straight loss.
Good To Know: Clark Davidson finished the game with 17 points and 6 rebounds, and
Shemarri Miles added 17 points of his own, along with 5 assists.
Kevin Wingert contributed 13 points and 5 boards off the bench, while
Jake Kampf had 11 points on 3/6 from beyond the arc.
Up Next: The Panthers finish up a stretch of three games in four days as they travel to Fontbonne University in St. Louis on Tuesday night for a 7:30 tip off. If you can make it, come and support the team in their second to last game of the regular season. If not, watch the streaming link on the Men's Basketball page.
