ELSAH, Ill. - The Westminster Blue Jays lost their chance at becoming the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season champions after they dropped their final game of the regular season to the Principia Panthers on Saturday.
Westminster College (17-8, 13-5 SLIAC) entered Saturday tied for first place in the conference with Greenville (Illinois) College. After the Blue Jays lost, Greenville (20-5, 14-4) clinched the SLIAC title with its win against Blackburn (Illinois) College on Saturday afternoon.
Westminster tied for second place with Iowa Wesleyan University (17-8, 13-5).
The Blue Jays - who rolled past Principia 67-51 on Jan. 17 in Fulton - trailed the Panthers 28-24 with 4 minutes, 43 seconds to go in the first half Saturday. Principia (12-11,11-7) ended the half with a 14-4 run to extend its advantage to 42-28.
Westminster narrowed the gap to 66-62 with 1:43 left in the game, but the Panthers countered with five unanswered points to push their advantage to 71-62 with :24 to go.
Junior forward Romo Tabb and junior center Sean O'Brien directed the Blue Jays - who shot just 34 percent (27-of-79) as a team - with 16 points apiece.
"We had a rough shooting game today," Westminster head coach Matt Mitchell said.
O'Brien also collected a team-high nine rebounds, but Principia finished with a 40-37 edge on the boards.
Micah Paulson paced the Panthers - who shot 55 percent (26-of-47) from the field - with 17 points. Justin Ball tallied 15 points, Trevaughn Goodman put up 14 and Adaku Anumu connected for 12.
Westminster plays in the SLIAC tournament semifinals this week at Greenville. The Blue Jays' seeding and opponent has not been determined.