ST. LOUIS, MO — The Principia Men's Basketball team traveled down to St. Louis on Sunday to take on regional powerhouse, Washington University of St. Louis. WashU came into the game at 6-2, while the Panthers came into the game at 6-1. WashU began the season ranked in the top 25, but a few close losses to ranked teams knocked them out for the time being. Despite a height disparity, Principia was able to keep it close for the first ten minutes, but unfortunately were unable to keep up with the high-powered Bears.

After a few minutes of finding their footing, the Panthers were able to get on the board with two free throws from Jaquan Adams to cut the lead to 7-2. From there, Principia found a little rhythm and was able to keep it close in the first ten minutes. Three pointers by Payton Sellers and Marco Powells cut the Bears' lead to 19-16 with 9:39 left in the half. Unfortunately, the Panthers offense sputtered for the rest of the half, and only scored eight points in the final 9:39. WashU was able to get fast break points for easy buckets and took control of the game. Principia went into halftime down 48-24.

The Panthers battled extremely well throughout the second half. They made a more concerted effort to get on the offensive glass, which allowed them to get some second chance points. Adams, Powells, and Clark Davidson led the way with three offensive rebounds each. A fast break dunk by Payton Sellers with 9:29 left got the lead down to 27, but that was as close as the Panthers would get. WashU would cruise to an 89-56 victory.

Good to Know: Jaquan Adams led the way for the Panthers with 18 points and 6 rebounds, while Clark Davidson chipped in with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Payton Sellers played in his first game since MUW and had 8 points off the bench for the Panthers.

Up Next: The Panthers will now be traveling to Honolulu, Hawaii to play a two game tournament against Oglethorpe University and Gallaudet University! Both games are at 3:00 pm CT (11:00 am local time) on December 17th and 18th.