ELSAH, IL – For the first time in school history, Principia College hosted a SLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament game, as the Panthers faced off against the Spalding Golden Eagles. In their previous two matchups, the Panthers defeated the Golden Eagles by double digits. With this being the SLIAC Tournament, a loss would end either team's season, so the stakes were much higher. After a back-and-forth first half, Principia held a 35-27 lead at the break. With 11 minutes remaining, Spalding cut the lead to 2, but the Panthers would respond. Over the last nine minutes, Principia outscored Spalding by nine, helping them earn a 62-51 victory.
For the first 16 minutes of the opening half, neither team could gain an edge. A layup by Jacoby Johnson of Spalding with 5:59 left in the half tied the game at 20-20. This would be the last time the Panthers would not have the lead. Stellar play by
Clark Davidson and
Jaquan Adams helped stretch Principia's lead to as many as 10 in the final minutes before the half. After Spalding cut the lead to 5, a
Jaquan Adams layup plus the foul pushed the lead to 8 at the halftime break, 35-27.
Spalding came out ready to play in the second half and cut the lead back to 2 on three separate occasions – the last being a jumper by Jacoby Johnson with 11:11 left to make it 41-39. A big layup by
Marco Powells with 8:54 remaining gave Principia a 43-39 lead. Spalding would cut it down to 3 with 6:31 remaining, but Principia would answer with an 8-0 run capped by a clutch 3-pointer by
Shemarri Miles with 2:59 remaining. After a Spalding bucket ended the run,
Jake Kampf responded with another three to give Principia enough cushion as they earned the 62-51 victory.
Good to Know: The Panthers were again led by
Jaquan Adams and
Clark Davidson, who both had monster games to lead the Panthers. Adams finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds, while Davidson had 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. The win pushed Principia's record to 18-8 on the season and moved them into the SLIAC Semifinals.
Up Next: Principia travels to Webster University in St. Louis for their SLIAC Semifinal matchup against the Webster Gorloks this Friday at 7:30 pm. Please come out to Webster's Grant Gymnasium to support the Panthers if you are in the area. If you cannot make it, tune in to the live stream link on the Men's Basketball schedule.
