Written and Media by Kyler Stork.
The Panther basketball team came out Wed. Feb. 9 to make a statement. Greenville was hungry for the win after IWU beat them 140-119 at their home court. With a win, they would punch their ticket to the postseason SLIAC tournament. During the game, the crowd was electrifying as the Panthers jumped out to a 29-21 lead after senior, Kenny Greene’s, dunk. Greene also fired from a long range all night. He finished with 26 points and 15 rebounds. The Panthers went into the locker room at half leading the Tigers 65-58.
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In the second half, senior, Stevonte Young, gave the Panthers energy on defense swiping four steals. Greenville tallied 15 steals for the night and made sure they capitalized off the IWU turnovers. The Panthers did not take that for granted as they scored 34 points off the IWU mistakes. Late in the second half, senior Shane Smith gave the Panthers all the energy they needed. Smith drove through the lane and slammed it home giving the Panthers a 106-99 lead with six minutes to go. The crowd yelled and cheered, “Let’s go Panthers”, as Greenville never looked back. Smith scored 19 points and senior forward, Elmo Smith, provided 20 points to go with his six rebounds. Sophomore, Johari Dix, did most of the assisting through the game as he led the team with seven assists. When the buzzer sounded, the crowd erupted as the Panthers got the victory 122-114.
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With the win, the Panthers moved to 18-4, 12-3 SLIAC, which gave them a reserved spot in the SLIAC postseason tournament. Right now, the Panthers are in first place as they head to Eureka for another conference game. The game is set for 3 PM Feb. 11 at the Eureka gymnasium. Don’t miss it!
