ELSAH, IL – The Principia Men's Basketball team came into tonight's home matchup with the Spalding Golden Eagles tied for the program record in wins with 16. This team finished the game as the new Principia Men's Basketball wins record holders with 17 wins thus far.
In their first match up, the Panthers defeated the Golden Eagles 53-43 in a defensive slugfest down in Louisville, KY. This game had much more offensive firepower as both teams have continued to improve offensively as the year has gone on. While Principia jumped out to an early lead, Spalding never folded and battled the entire game. After charging out to a 16 point lead with 3:18 left in the half, Spalding cut the lead to 11 at the half. Principia would again extend the lead out to 17 with 11 minutes remaining, and held on for the 76-65 historic victory.
On Principia's first possession, Nate Brantingham made a hook shot to put the Panthers up 2-0, and Principia would not trail a single time the rest of the game. Four 3-pointers by
Jake Kampf in the first 11 minutes of play put Principia up 26-15 with 9:10 left in the half. A three by
Jaquan Adams pushed the Principia lead up to 16 with 3:18 left in the half, but Spalding would trim the lead to 42-31 going into the halftime break.
A three from
Clark Davidson started the second half with a bang for Principia and moved their lead to 14. Spalding would cut the lead all the way down to 7 with 14:28 remaining on two free throws by Anthony Dillard. A quick 10-0 run capped by another three by Kampf pushed the lead right back to 17 with 11:02 remaining. From there, Spalding would fight back but was unable to get the lead down to single digits, as Principia earned the hard-fought 76-65 victory.
Good to Know: Just like they have been all season long, the Panthers were led tonight by
Jaquan Adams,
Jake Kampf, and
Clark Davidson. Adams led the Panthers with 20 points, while Kampf had 18, and Davidson finished with 14. The Panthers moved to 9-2 in SLIAC play and maintained their narrow lead for first place, just one game ahead of Fontbonne at 8-3.
Up Next: Principia has a quick turn around with their Senior Day against Webster University on Saturday at 3:00 pm in Hay Field House. This is the last regular season home game for the Panthers as they look to extract some revenge on the Gorloks, who defeated the Panthers 65-63 on a last second layup. The Senior Day ceremony starts around 2:45 pm, so come out early and pack the gym to cheer on our six seniors for the last time! If you can't make it, tune into the live stream linked on our schedule.
