Basketball Recap: Darius Franklin Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Darlington

After losing to Darlington the last time they met, Lakewood decided to demonstrate that turnabout is fair play. The Lakewood Gators took down the Darlington Falcons 50-33 on Friday.

Lakewood's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Darius Franklin led the charge by dropping a double-double on 19 points and 14 boards. Lakewood is 2-1 when Franklin posts eight or more boards, but 4-5 otherwise. Andre Mcbride was another key player, putting up ten points and five steals.

Lakewood is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 6-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.2 points per game. As for Darlington, their defeat ended a seven-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 8-4.

Lakewood will take on River Bluff in a tournament on Thursday. As for Darlington, they will head out to face off against Timberland at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.