Westminster Runs Away From Principia In Game of the Week

Westminster men's basketball tallied its third conference win of the season with a 20-point victory over Principia.

The Blue Jays improve to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with the win. 

"Principia is a really good team and we caught them on an off night," said Westminster Head Coach Matt Mitchell. "We were able to get hot in the second half to put away the win."

Westminster got out to a slow start, unable to score until three minutes into the game when Kobe Wands hit a three-pointer to go up 3-2 at the 17:15 mark. Collin Caywood then went on a 6-0 run by himself by hitting a three-pointer, layup, and free throw in back-to-back possessions to give Westminster a 9-5 lead after four minutes of play. 

The Blue Jays held their lead until the 9:30 mark when the Panthers hit a layup to go up 15-14. 

After the Blue Jays tied the game twice, they finally put themselves back on top with five minutes remaining after Tanner Cochran hit two free-throws. 

The final minutes of the first half featured one tie and four lead changes but ended with the Blue Jays on top after an 8-0 run in the last two minutes. 

Westminster continued the hot shooting that ended the first half to start the second half, taking a double-digit lead for the first time in the game at the 18:51 mark. 

An 11-2 run gave the Blue Jays a 51-36 lead after three-pointers from Caywood and K. Wands. Four straight free-throws from Cody Shaw gave Westminster the 20-point lead with under eight minutes remaining. 

The Panthers were unable to recover from the big Blue Jay lead, falling down by as many as 26 with under five minutes. 

Kobe Wands led all scorers with 20 points, going 7-12 from the field. Stu Hollandsworth added 12 points and Caywood and Shaw each added 11 points each. 

STORY COURTESY OF WESTMINSTER COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION