The Panthers, who drop to 7-4 on the season, would be out rebounded 30-22 while turning the ball over 17 times, 11 of them in the first half. The Crusaders were hot in the second half, shooting over 60 percent from the field and 60 percent from the three-point line for the game.
“We just simply couldn’t put anything together today,” said head coach Warren Haynes. “Our fundamental defense and positioning was off and we couldn’t get into the flow of transition, as we were mostly in setup situations. We need to get ready for Millsaps and work on not giving the ballgame away.”
The Panthers started off strong thanks to Lawrence, who scored the team’s first eight points of the game to take an 8-4 early lead. Then Dallas went on a 14-2 run over the next six minutes to take the lead 18-10 with 10:43 remaining in the first half.
Shon Redding got the offense going with two free-throws and a tip-in to bring them within six, 20-14. The Panthers got in early foul trouble as the Crusaders were in the double bonus by the eight-minute mark and would result in five points off free-throws to make the score 25-16.
An inbound steal and lay-up by Kevin Kelly and two buckets from junior forward Leon Williams would cut the Crusader lead at five, 25-20 with 7:15 to go in the half.
The Crusaders would take a 41-35 lead heading into halftime. LaGrange couldn’t get the offense going, but they would hit their free-throws, shooting near 70 percent and shot nearly 50 percent of their shots in the first half.
The second half would be a physical match and would be played with pure intensity and would be whoever wanted it more as both teams would play exceptional defense with each team taking charges and with the Panthers forcing two shot clock violations.
Antoine Maddox would hit a three-pointer to give the Panthers their first lead of the second half, 52-51 with 11:12 left in the ballgame. It would be their last as the Crusaders had an answer for every LaGrange score the rest of the game.
“We didn’t position ourselves the way coach (Haynes) wanted us to,” said Maddox. “We just didn’t finish our buckets and they had an answer for everything that we did. They are a good team, but we showed that we weren’t going to give up until the final buzzer sounded.”
Dallas would go on a 10-2 run during the next six minutes and the Panthers would only cut the lead to three points with two minutes remaining off a Demetris Render lay-up. Free throws would decide the final margin.
Lawrence would lead all scorers with 20 points and four steals. He comes into Mariotti Gym on Dec. 29th needing only two points to reach 1,000 for his career. His four steals puts him one behind Jeff Pourchier for fifth all-time with 121.
“It feels great to have all of these accolades, but I want to be remembered as a team,” Lawrence said. “I told the guys that we have a lot of basketball left and we can’t dwell on this loss. We know we are a good team and we got to keep that mentality going into the new year.”
Render would follow him with 16 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Panthers. Antoine Maddox would chip in 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals.
“We need to get this loss behind us, go and spend time with our families during the break and come back refreshed and prepared to win our tournament,” said Render.
The Panthers will have a break during the holidays until they host the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Dec. 29-30. The Panthers will play first against Millsaps College, who are currently 3-4 on the season. The Majors hold a 3-2 advantage in five meetings, winning the last two meetings. The Panthers will then play in a first-ever match-up against MacMurray College, which is currently 4-3 on the year.