LOUISVILLE, KY – The Principia Men's Basketball team traveled east to Louisville for a SLIAC match up against the Spalding University Golden Eagles. Principia was looking for their first ever victory on the road against Spalding, and was riding a three game win streak coming into the game.
Principia set the tone defensively early in the game, and played suffocating defense throughout. At half time, the Panthers led 23-16 in an extremely low scoring game. The second half, although slightly more high scoring, provided the same hard-nosed defense from the Panthers. In the end, Principia won by 10 and only gave up 43 points – the fewest the team has allowed in 31 years (since January 9, 1992 vs Parks College).
Shemarri Miles started off the game strong with a 3-pointer to give Principia the early 3-0 lead. After going up 5-0, Spalding would go on a run, and take a 10-7 lead with 11:29 remaining in the half. This would be the last lead of the game for the Golden Eagles, as a
Marco Powells corner three tied the game for Principia at 10, and then a
Jake Kampf three gave Principia the lead at 13-10. Absolutely impenetrable defense by the Panthers the rest of the half, including only allowing Spalding one point in the last 6:55 of the half, led Principia to a 23-16 lead at halftime.
Another 3-pointer by Miles started the half strong for the Panthers as they stretched their lead out to 10. Back-to-back post moves by
Clark Davidson and
Jaquan Adams pushed the lead to 14 – the largest of the game for the Panthers – with 10:49 remaining. Principia's steady play the rest of the game kept Spalding at bay with timely buckets and free throws. In the end, the Panthers finally got their win at Spalding, 53-43.
Good to Know: Principia's balanced attack was led by Miles and Adams who had 11 points each. Kampf and Davidson chipped in with 10 and 9 points respectively. In conference play, Principia currently leads the SLIAC in FG% defense (37.3%) and points allowed per game (64.8). This historic win moves Principia to 4-1 in conference play, good for second place in the standings.
Up Next: The Panthers next game will be a huge one as they travel to Webster University in St. Louis on Saturday for a showdown with the first place Gorloks. This battle for the top spot in the standings is the SLIAC Game of the Week! Tip off is at 3:00 pm, and if you are in the St. Louis area, the Panthers would love your support! If you cannot make the game, tune in to the live stream on Webster's athletic website.
