ELSAH, IL – The Principia men's basketball team hosted their fellow Panthers from Greenville University on Tuesday night. After a strong start to the game, Principia let their early lead slip away and wound up losing 134-107.
Principia was clicking on offense early on and built a 12-point advantage leading 32-20 with eight minutes left in the first half. Greenville's poor shooting to start the game did not last as they began to come back and took the lead just over five minutes later. By halftime, Greenville held a 55-50 lead and ran away with the game in the second half. The home Panthers struggled mightily with Greenville's tough full-court press defense as GU forced an amazing 51 turnovers in the game.
Despite the loss, Principia did have a player record a triple-double for the second straight season in their home matchup with Greenville. Just like
Jaquan Adams last year,
Nolan Simon finished the game with double-digit points (30), rebounds (11), and assists (12). All three are career highs for Simon who added 5 steals as well.
Bobby Alford III (26 points and 10 rebounds) and
Eaton Smith (13 points and 15 rebounds) also had double-doubles on the night.
The Panthers will play two away games at Webster (2/15) and Westminster (2/18) over the next week before returning home for Senior Day vs Blackburn on February 22.
