Preview: Essex Trojans vs. Middlesex Chargers
Essex has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Middlesex Chargers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Essex had to suffer through a rough 75-48 loss at the hands of Lancaster. While losing is never fun, Essex can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 403rd, while Lancaster is ranked 66th).
Meanwhile, Middlesex had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.5 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. They took their game on the road with ease, bagging a 80-46 win over West Point. Middlesex has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matches by 23 points or more this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Middlesex to victory, but perhaps none more so than JaQuan Griffin, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 13 rebounds. Griffin hasn't dropped below two steals for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Malik Dandy, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Essex's loss dropped their record down to 5-12. As for Middlesex, their win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-4.
Essex came up short against Middlesex in their previous matchup back in January of 2023, falling 59-54. Can Essex avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
