EUREKA, IL – The Principia Men's Basketball team traveled to Eureka College on Tuesday needing a win to secure their first SLIAC Regular Season Championship in school history. Eureka was coming into the game riding a four game win streak and playing some of their best basketball of the season. In the first matchup between these two teams, the Panthers defeated the Red Devils 82-76 at home in January.
Tuesday's game would be neck and neck throughout, with neither team able to create any separation from their opponent. Principia would head into the halftime break with a slim 34-32 lead. After a back-and-forth second half, Eureka missed a shot at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime at 63-63. Unfortunately for the Panthers, overtime would be all Red Devils, as their offense hit on all cylinders leading to a 78-72 victory for Eureka.
The first half started off in favor of Eureka, as the took an early 12-6 lead. Principia would fight back with strong defense, taking their own six-point lead, 24-18 on a steal and layup from
Shemarri Miles. The rest of the half would be back-and-forth, as a late layup from Principia's
Jaquan Adams gave the Panthers a 34-32 lead heading into the break.
After Eureka to tied the game to open the second half, back-to-back three pointers by
Payton Sellers and
Jake Kampf again put Principia up by six, 40-34. After the Red Devils battled back and took a two-point lead on a layup from Peewee Brown, a quick 7-0 run would put the Panthers back up five with 11:41 remaining. A seesaw battle ensued with both teams exchanging the lead until the final minute. A layup by Adams with 0:53 seconds remaining gave Principia the 63-61 lead, but Eureka would tie the game with 0:37 seconds left. Both teams would miss potential game-winning jumpers in the final 30 seconds as the game headed to overtime knotted at 63 apiece.
Unfortunately for Principia, their stingy defense was unable to get the stops necessary to win the game in overtime, as Eureka took control of the game from the overtime tip. A clutch
Kevin Wingert three cut the Red Devils' lead to three with 1:03 remaining, and after a defensive rebound by the Panthers, they had one final chance to tie the game. However, a long pass resulted in one of the few turnovers by Principia and sealed the game for Eureka. A few Red Devils' free throws later, the game ended in a 78-72 win for the home team.
Good to Know: The Panthers were again led by
Jaquan Adams, who had 19 points.
Clark Davidson and
Shemarri Miles chipped in with 10 points apiece for the Panthers. This loss drops the Panthers to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in the SLIAC. Principia is now in a three-way tie with Webster and Fontbonne for first place in the conference standings. Though they would lose the tournament seeding tiebreaker against these two teams, they can still clinch a share of the SLIAC Regular Season Championship with a win on Saturday.
Up Next: Principia closes out the regular season at Blackburn College this Saturday at 3:00 pm. Tune in as the Panthers will be looking to make school history with a victory!
