Basketball Recap: Ryan Howell's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Pender over South Columbus

If Pender was feeling good fresh off their 53-27 takedown of East Columbus last Monday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Pender Patriots took a 54-44 hit to the loss column at the hands of the South Columbus Stallions on Tuesday. Sadly, that's the second time they've come up short against the Patriots this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 58-47 back in December of 2024.

Pender lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Ryan Howell, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds. Howell has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more blocks the last 13 times he's played. Ricky Armstrong was another key player, putting up 12 points.

Pender's defeat dropped their record down to 4-8. As for South Columbus, their record is now 10-5.

Pender has already played their next match (against East Columbus), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. South Columbus didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 66-62 victory against Whiteville on the 30th.