ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Webster University men's basketball team was back in action this afternoon when they played host to the Principia (Ill.) College Panthers for a SLIAC matchup. The Gorloks defeated the Panthers by a final score of 82-42 to improve to 5-8 on the season and 3-3 in conference play. With the loss, Principia drops to 2-11 on the year and 1-5 in the SLIAC.

The Gorloks went 34-for-78 (43.6%) from the floor and 13-for-35 (37.1%) from behind the arc. Their 13 made threes were the most for the Gorloks in a game since 2020. They outrebounded the Panthers by a final count of 53-28 with 21 rebounds coming on the offensive end. The forced Principia to turn the ball over 16 times in the contest while turning those turnovers into 20 points on the other end of the floor. Webster also dished out 17 assists.

The Gorloks came out in the first half and found themselves trailing 12-4 in the first four minutes of the game. They settled in as the half progressed and were able to take the lead with 7:45 left to play in the half. The Panthers would retake the lead on their next possession, but a 17-7 run from Webster to end the half would put them up 33-24 at the break.

Webster came out of the locker room on fire as they went on a 29-8 run over the first 11 minutes of the half to push their lead to 30. They continued to knock down their shots from behind the arc down the stretch and grew their lead to as many as 42 before cruising to their third conference win of the season.

Webster had contributions from everyone in this one as 14 different players found the bottom of the basket. Booker Simmons led the way as he finished with a season high 16 points to go along with five rebounds. Allen Grahovic also played well as he set a new career high with 15 points. In addition, Jemard Sykes II finished with a game high 11 rebounds and eight points, Karl Moore Jr. had eight rebounds, and Josh Luster had eight points.

The Gorloks will return to the court on Wednesday, January 11^th when they travel to Carlinville, Illinois, to take on the Blackburn (Ill.) College Beavers for a SLIAC matchup. The game is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.