Basketball Preview: Academy of the New Church Lions vs. Friends Select
Academy of the New Church is 10-0 against the since January of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Academy of the New Church Lions will stay at home for another game and welcome Friends Select at 5:30 p.m. on February 6th. One thing working in Academy of the New Church's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season.
Even though Malvern Prep scored an imposing 57 points on Saturday, Academy of the New Church still came out on top. Academy of the New Church snuck past the Friars with a 61-57 victory.
Academy of the New Church's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Bahsil Laster, who scored 24 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryan Warren, who scored 15 points along with seven rebounds and four blocks.
Meanwhile, Friends Select pushed their score all the way to 57 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 66-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of Friends' Central. While losing is never fun, Friends Select can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 219th, while the are ranked 24th).
Academy of the New Church pushed their record up to 18-4 with that victory, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. As for Friends Select, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-14.
Academy of the New Church didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against the in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with a 76-72 win. Will Academy of the New Church repeat their success, or do the have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
