ELSAH, IL – The Principia Men's Basketball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday afternoon before their final home game of the regular season against the Webster Gorloks. Principia honored
Clark Davidson,
Marco Powells,
Payton Sellers,
Kevin Wingert,
Jake Kampf, and
Nathan Brantingham, who are all finishing their eligibility this season and have been instrumental in breaking the school record for wins.
In the first meeting between these two teams, Webster defeated Principia 65-63 on a last-second layup. Unfortunately for the Panthers, there would be no payback as the Gorloks took hold of the game early, and never let their foot off the gas. After going into halftime with a 14-point lead, Webster was able to extend that lead even more so in the second half, running away with the 79-59 victory.
From the opening tip, Webster took control of the game, starting with a quick 3-pointer by Wynne Brown Jr. The Panthers would never once have the lead, and their last tie would come at 7-7. After falling behind by 13 with 3:17 left in the half, Principia cut the lead to 7 with 2:05 remaining. Unfortunately, the Gorloks pushed that back up to 14 by halftime at 40-26.
Webster came out in the second half on fire again and stretched the lead to 20 with 13:46 remaining. Principia would not quit and went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead back to 52-43 with 10:30 remaining. That would be as close as the Panthers would get, as Webster hit a three to end the run and never looked back as they defeated Principia, 79-59.
Good to Know: The Panthers were led by their leading scorer,
Jaquan Adams, who had 20 points for the third straight game. This loss dropped the Panthers to 17-6 overall and 9-3 in the SLIAC. It was their first loss at home of the season, ending a 12-game win streak in Hay Field House. Principia is still in first place in the SLIAC by one game over both Fontbonne and Webster, who are 8-4.
Up Next: Principia travels to Eureka College for a crucial matchup on Tuesday at 7:30 pm. Principia defeated the Red Devils earlier this season 82-76, and will be looking to stay in first place in the race for the SLIAC regular season crown.
