GREENVILLE, IL – Coming off of an opening SLIAC loss at Fontbonne, the Principia Men's Basketball team headed to Greenville University on Saturday looking for their first conference victory. Both Greenville and Principia came into the game 0-1 in SLIAC play and were desperately trying to avoid falling to 0-2. Greenville leads the nation in points per game with 105.2, as their hectic style of play always allows for an exciting game. As usual, the battle of the Panthers did not disappoint.
Early on, Greenville used their press and fast paced offense to put Principia on their heels. Numerous turnovers by Principia and a barrage of three pointers by Greenville had Principia down 16 points at the half. However, in the second half, Principia looked like a completely different team, and locked in on defense to complete the remarkable comeback and win 94-91.
After Principia took an early 6-3 lead, the rest of the half belonged to Greenville. Their press created many turnovers by Principia and caused the game to be played at the up-tempo pace that they prefer. A three pointer by Greenville with 6:26 remaining in the half pushed the lead to 19 points at 46-27. From here, Principia would settle down, control the ball, and start to get stops that allowed them to cut into the lead. Although the score at half was 57-41, holding Greenville to only 11 points in the last 6:26 of the half was foreshadowing to the defensive execution that would come from Principia in the second half.
Layups by
Nathan Brantingham,
Clark Davidson,
Shemarri Miles, and
Jaquan Adams cut the lead to seven with 16:11 left in the game. After a period of back and forth action, a 3-pointer by
Jake Kampf cut the lead to just four with 11:00 left, which was as close as Principia had been since early in the first half. Back-to-back layups by Brantingham gave Principia their first lead since 6-3, with just under nine minutes remaining. Principia was able to stretch the lead out to seven with 6:23 left on two Brantingham free throws.
The last six minutes were a back-and-forth affair as both teams made big baskets. After falling behind 85-83, consecutive baskets by Davidson put Principia up two with two minutes left. Free throws by Kampf pushed the lead out to five with 19 seconds left, but Greenville would not quit. Two free throws by the home team cut the lead to three with 7 seconds left. A turnover by Principia gave Greenville one last chance at a game-tying three, but stifling defense by Miles prevented Greenville from even getting a shot attempt, and Principia came away with the 94-91 victory.
Good to Know: Principia held Greenville to just 34 points in the second half, outscoring them by 19 to win the game. Huge efforts for Principia came from
Nathan Brantingham and
Clark Davidson, who both had big double doubles. Brantingham finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds and Davidson had 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Jake Kampf had 6 three pointers on his way to 22 points and 7 assists, while
Shemarri Miles finished one point and one assist shy of a triple double with an impressive line of 9 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Jaquan Adams chipped in 11 points and
Marco Powells came off the bench for 8 points and some stifling defense on the perimeter.
Up Next: The Panthers will finally return back home on Tuesday, January 10 for their first home game in over a month as they take on Westminster College. This will be a great matchup as both teams are 1-1 in SLIAC, and Principia will look to use home court to their advantage. Tip off is at 7:30 pm, and if you are in the area, please come out and support your Panthers!
