The Mullins Auctioneers will head out on the road to challenge the Lake City Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Mullins is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Kingstree: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Mullins blew Kingstree out of the water with a 67-28 final score. The Auctioneers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 games by 22 points or more this season.
| 01/14/25 @ Kingstree | 5 |
| 01/09/25 vs East Clarendon | 4 |
| 01/07/25 @ Manning | 2 |
| 12/21/24 vs Richland Northeast | 3 |
| 12/20/24 vs South Brunswick | 2 |
Mullins can attribute much of their success to Dakarai Worley, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 17 rebounds, and Deyon Ford, who went 8 for 19 en route to 17 points along with seven boards and five steals. Ford has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 20 times he's played. Another player making a difference was Ernest Ford, who posted 11 points and five steals.
Mullins smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 26 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Lake City narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past East Clarendon 58-56.
Lake City's win came from a few key players Mullins will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Blayne Edwards, who put up 18 points and six boards. The team also got some help courtesy of A'Mari Hanna, who scored 14 points and three steals.
Mullins is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-2 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 26.5 points. As for Lake City, they now have a winning record of 6-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Mullins has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 37.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Lake City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything went Mullins' way against Lake City when the teams last played back in December of 2024, as Mullins made off with a 64-39 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mullins since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
