Basketball Game Preview: Pender Patriots vs. Lakewood Leopards

Pender is 0-3 against Lakewood since November of 2022 but things could change on Monday. The Pender Patriots are taking a road trip to face off against the Lakewood Leopards at 7:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Pender is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They rang in the new year with a 58-50 victory over Red Springs on Monday.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Pender to victory, but perhaps none more so than Malcolm Driver, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 14 boards. Those 14 rebounds gave Driver a new career-high. Jaheim Lambe was another key player, putting up 11 points.

Pender was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Lakewood had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10.8 points) and they went ahead and made it seven on Monday. They blew past the Dark Horses 69-35. That looming 69-35 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Leopards yet this season.

Pender better focus on containing Xavier Hall and Cameron Williams as the pair were huge in Lakewood's win. Hall dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Williams went 6 of 11 on his way to 15 points and six rebounds. The game was Williams' sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Dontaveous Smith, who posted seven points along with five rebounds and four steals.

Lakewood pushed their record up to 7-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.2 points per game. As for Pender, their victory bumped their record up to 2-5.

Things could have been worse for Pender, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 65-49 loss to Lakewood in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. Can Pender avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.