GREENVILLE, Ill. - The men's basketball team held on to defeat Westminster 132-131 on Wednesday night in the opening game of the SLIAC schedule.

Greenville slipped behind by 12 points with 13:19 left in the first half but tied it four minutes later when a layup from Austyn Contreras closed the turnaround. Before the first half ended, the Panthers held a 61-54 advantage.

In the second half, Greenville took a double digit lead, eventually surging to a 13 point lead at 102-89 with 10:58 left in the game.

Westminster chipped away at the deficit and tied the score at 127-all with 2:10 to go in the game. The Blue Jays eventually led 129-127, but a steal and layup by Dustin Bankowski tied the score at 129-all.

A layup by Sontiago Grady put the Panthers up 131-129, and a free throw by Riley Simmons with 23 seconds remaining added to the lead.  The Blue Jays could only muster a two-point field goal in the final seconds.

A pair of Panthers ended as GU's leading scorers. Grady and Simmons each had 21 points.

Quincy Pinkard and Rakim Murphy provided 18 points.

Justin Cross filled the box score with 11 points and seven blocked shots, and Elijah Wychers gave GU 10 rebounds.

The Panthers (2-5, 1-0 SLIAC) host Webster on Saturday at 3 p.m.