Basketball Recap: Research Triangle Falls Despite Big Games from Darien Venable and Sam Griffith

Research Triangle lost against NCSSM: Durham back in January, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Research Triangle Raptors fell 66-53 to the NCSSM: Durham Unicorns.

Research Triangle's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Sam Griffith, who posted 18 points, and Darien Venable, who almost dropped a double-double with 12 points and nine boards. That was a full 34% of Research Triangle's points, marking the third time in a row Griffith has earned more than a third of the team's points.

NCSSM: Durham got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Chris Chen out in front who went 6-for-10 to rack up 16 points and three steals. That's the most steals Chen has posted since back in November of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Alex Caza, who went 5-for-8 on his way to 10 points along with seven steals and six rebounds.

Research Triangle has been struggling recently as they've lost eight of their last ten contests, which has put a noticeable dent in their 6-17 record this season. As for NCSSM: Durham, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season.

Coming up, Research Triangle will square off against East Wake Academy at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. As for NCSSM: Durham, they will challenge Falls Lake at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.