FULTON, MO – The Principia Men's Basketball team took to the road on Tuesday night to take on the Westminster College Blue Jays in an important SLIAC affair. Both teams came in tied at 4-10 in the SLIAC standings and a loss would make clinching a berth in the SLIAC Tournament very difficult. In their game in Elsah earlier this season, Principia defeated the Blue Jays 78-72. Tonight's game was close throughout, and the Panthers had an especially strong second half where they executed well on offense to come back from a halftime deficit. Principia rode this momentum to a 85-82 victory to sweep the season series against Westminster.
In the first fifteen minutes of the game, no team had a lead of more than three points. With 5:04 remaining in the half, a Blue Jay bucket gave them the four point lead, which would stretch out to seven before a Jaquan Adams lay up cut the lead to 41-36 at the half.
At the start of the second half, Shemarri Miles hit a three pointer and a lay up to tie the game at 41 all. Back-to-back threes by Miles and Charley Hoffman gave Principia a 49-45 lead with 16:06 left in the half. After Westminster came back to reclaim the lead at 52-50, AJ Byrd had a steal and lay up to knot the game back up at 52 apiece. After Westminster took a 63-58 with 9 minutes to go, Principia would respond with a 10-0 run over the next 3 minutes to take 68-63 lead. With 1:19 remaining and the Panthers up three, Byrd hit a huge three from the corner to put the Panthers up by 6 and seal the game. After some Principia free throws and a last-second shot by Westminster, the Panthers ultimately defeated the Blue Jays 85-82.
Good to Know: Jaquan Adams followed up his USBWA National Player of the Week award with another monster double double. He finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists. AJ Byrd and Bobby Alford also had great games as they finished with 19 and 13 points respectively. The best game for Principia was played by Shemarri Miles, who finished with 14 points on 6/8 shooting and added 5 assists as he ran the offense well all game long. The Panthers move to 5-10 in conference play and are still alive for the final SLIAC Tournament spot.
Up Next: The Panthers return home for a must-win match up against the Blackburn Beavers on Saturday at 3:00 pm. Principia defeated Blackburn in Carlinville earlier this season in a 72-71 barn burner. Come support your Panthers if you are in the area!
