Preview: Academy for Academic Excellence Knights vs. Big Bear Bears
Academy for Academic Excellence is 0-10 against Big Bear since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Academy for Academic Excellence Knights will head out on the road to face off against the Big Bear Bears at 5:30 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Academy for Academic Excellence has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Big Bear will arrive with nine straight victories.
Academy for Academic Excellence pushed their score all the way to 57 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Cobalt Institute of Math & Science Academy 63-57.
Meanwhile, Big Bear put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They breezed by Hesperia Christian on the road to the tune of 76-33. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory Big Bear has posted since December 14, 2023.
Big Bear can attribute much of their success to Brennen Berge, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten steals, and Levi Rufner, who went 9 for 13 from beyond the arc en route to 28 points and 1 assist. Berge is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last ten games he's played. Nathan Cole was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with three steals.
Academy for Academic Excellence has been struggling recently, as they've lost ten of their last 11 games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-17 record this season. As for Big Bear, their win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-5.
Academy for Academic Excellence was dealt a bruising 64-31 loss at the hands of Big Bear in their previous meeting on January 9th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Big Bear's Aiden Brewer, who scored 14 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. Now that Academy for Academic Excellence knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
