Basketball Recap: Khari Gurley's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Empire over Marana

After flying high against Safford two weeks ago, Empire came back down to earth. The Empire Ravens lost to the Marana Tigers on the road by a 82-64 margin on Thursday. The Ravens were probably out for revenge after losing 63-43 to them when the teams met back in December of 2017, then they'll just have to keep looking.

Empire lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Khari Gurley, who posted ten points in addition to seven boards and six assists. What's more, Gurley also racked up six steals, the most he's had since back in December of 2023. Another player making a difference was Donovan Davidson, who had 16 points and five rebounds.

Empire's defeat was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 6-7. As for Marana, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 4-4 record this season.

Empire didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 52-38 victory against Music Mountain on the 2nd. As for Marana, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 65-29 win against Alchesay on the 2nd.