Griffins Final Game At Home Gets Spoiled By Panthers Second Half Surge

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's basketball team dropped its regular season finale at home on Tuesday night against Principia, 87-72.

The Griffins (5-19; 3-14 SLIAC), shot 38.7 percent from the floor and just 23.1 percent from beyond-the-arc. Kris McCann led them with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Tristan Baker went 7-of-9 from the charity-stripe to finish with 13 points, while Luke DeLine added 11 points and seven boards.

The Panthers (9-14; 8-9 SLIAC), were on fire throughout the evening. Principia shot 59.7 percent from the field and were paced by Parker Davidson's game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds.

Trevaughn Goodman had himself a game with 23 points, while Micah Paulson played the full 40 minutes to end with 15 points.

In the first half, things started out well for the Griffins as DeLine's 3-point play gave them the early advantage of 7-2. The two teams went on to tie twice and have three lead changes over the next eight minutes, but Fontbonne was still on top 21-17 on Erich Schark's lay-up at 10:45.

Then, at 9:48, Principia regained the lead (22-21) on Goodman's lay-up. From there, they continued to maintain its marginal lead up until a 4-0 run by the Griffins in 25.0 seconds tied the game at 32-32 with 3:38 to go.

However, Principia closed out the final three minutes on a 5-0 run and headed into the break on top, 37-32.

In the second half, the Panthers ran out to an 8-2 run to take a 45-34 lead at the 17:48 mark. Principia kept rolling on from there as Jeff Ross' dunk put them ahead 57-39 (13:37) and that forced the Griffins to take a timeout.

With Principia shooting 60.6 percent in the second half, the Panthers held onto its double-digit lead the rest of the way and spoiled the Griffins final game at home, winning by 15.

The team looks to bounce back in its season finale on the road against Eureka on Saturday. Tip-off at 3 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the men's basketball team.