The ability to share the basketball was on full display for both Prairie State and Morton College on Tuesday night. The wins have been piling up for the Panthers, but they came up just short in their 90-88 home defeat.

The productive Panther offense featured four players in double figures, but there were some possessions on both ends of the court that the coaching staff would have loved to have back.

"Defensively, we can't allow a team to score 90 points. That's the key to us being successful, getting stops on the defensive end. We shot 50% from the foul line and lost the rebounding war. That is a losing recipe every time," head coach Jon Rush said.

The Panthers allowed nine offensive rebounds and were out-rebounded by five in a game that came down to the wire.

Trailing by 11 points (84-73) with 4:15 remaining in regulation, the Panthers had to put together quick offense. Kyren Gardner scored 3 points, and Manny Rodriguez scored 10 points in the final four-plus minutes of regulation.

Rodriguez has been clutch all season and connected on two three-pointers that gave the Panthers a shot at pulling off an epic comeback.

"Manny is a competitor, I know he's never going to back down. He is a tough young man. He's been a big part of our success this year," Rush said.

The star point guard posted a game-high 22 points (9-of-17 shooting) with four three-pointers to lift his season total to 42.

Evan Bush added a bucket in the paint to tie the game in the closing seconds. However, the Panthers committed a foul that ended up costing them with 0.8 seconds remaining. The Pioneers made two free throws, and the Panthers failed to get a shot off.

By the numbers, there were 24 fouls called against the Panthers (13 for the Pioneers), and the Pioneers attempted 29 free throws in a game they led for most of the night.

Lonnel Strickland had another successful performance, slashing his way to the cup for an eventual 17 points. Strickland has evolved in this offense for the past few weeks and brings the energy every night.

Coach Rush would like them to value the basketball and produce more in their half-court offense and believes a faster start in terms of pace would be helpful.

"We knew that after a stagnant first half offensively, we would need to have a much better pace in the second half to get better looks as a group," head coach Jon Rush said.

The Panthers will put this one behind them in preparation for a Thursday night road matchup at Lake County. There will be a quick turnaround with a non-conference home date two days later against Spoon River.

Catching fire in January and playing winning basketball has been a joy for Panther nation. If you miss any future home games in person, follow the team on our Facebook page and Youtube. Also, check out GoMCPanthers.com and our social media pages @McAthletics1924 for more upcoming featured recaps, previews, quotes, and all the latest news for Panther hoops.