Basketball Preview: Graham Red Devils vs. Excelsior Classical Academy Flying Lions
The Graham Red Devils will head out on the road to challenge the Excelsior Classical Academy Flying Lions at 7:00 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.
Excelsior Classical Academy is hoping to do what Roxboro Community couldn't on Tuesday: put an end to Graham's winning streak, which now stands at three games. Graham walked away with an 80-70 win over Roxboro Community.
Ladario Johnson and Micah Woods were among the main playmakers for Graham as the former dropped a double-double on 23 points and 16 rebounds and the latter went 12 for 26 en route to 34 points plus five rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which Woods has scored at least a third of Graham's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jamel Lee, who posted ten points plus seven rebounds.
Graham smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 25 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 21 offensive rebounds in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, a victory for Excelsior Classical Academy just wasn't in the cards last Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They lost 82-59 to Graham. The loss was the Flying Lions' first of the season.
Excelsior Classical Academy might have lost, but man, Shawn Francis-Service was a machine: he had 26 points in addition to six rebounds and five steals. That was a full 44.1% of Excelsior Classical Academy's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Jason Maldonado, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Excelsior Classical Academy's defeat was their 12th straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 2-1. As for Graham, their win bumped their record up to 3-0.
Graham took their victory against Excelsior Classical Academy when the teams last played last Friday by a conclusive 82-59. The rematch might be a little tougher for Graham since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
