Preview: Coral Gables Cavaliers vs. Columbus Explorers
The Coral Gables Cavaliers will take on the Columbus Explorers at TBD on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Coral Gables walked away with it. They strolled past the Falcons with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 61-45. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Coral Gables.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Coral Gables to victory, but perhaps none more so than Marcellis Williams, who scored 19 points along with seven steals and six rebounds. Williams is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for four games straight. The team also got some help courtesy of Cristian Andres Paredes, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Columbus entered their tilt with Florida Christian with 13 consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with 14. Columbus really took it to Florida Christian for the full four quarters, racking up a 84-45 victory at home. Columbus has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten matches by 26 points or more this season.
Columbus' win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jase Richardson, who scored 21 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. Richardson hasn't dropped below two steals for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Malik Abdullahi, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds.
Coral Gables is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-7 record this season. As for Columbus, their victory was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 20-4.
Coral Gables suffered a grim 67-43 defeat to Columbus when the teams last played back in February of 2022. Can Coral Gables avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
