Basketball Recap: Porter Mathews' Big Game Can't Quite Lead O'neill over St. Paul

O'Neill was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They were five points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 54-49 heartbreaker at the hands of the St. Paul Wildcats. The Eagles were down 50-30 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

O'Neill lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Porter Mathews, who posted five points along with ten boards and three steals. That's the most steals Mathews has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Brady Eichelberger, who put up six points and nine rebounds.

Even though they lost, O'Neill smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in eight consecutive matchups dating back to last season.

O'Neill's record is now 2-5. As for St. Paul, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 4-3.

O'Neill didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 63-44 victory against North Central on the 28th. As for St. Paul, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 58-37 defeat against Loomis on the 28th.