Southwestern comes up short despite Ian Brantley's dominant performance

By Team Reports Jan 9, 2024, 8:52pm

Recap: Southwestern Piasa Birds vs. Jersey Panthers

It was a good run, but the Southwestern Piasa Birds unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell to Jersey 48-44. Southwestern was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Jersey apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in November of 2023.

When it comes to explaining why Southwestern lost, one person who can't be blamed is Ian Brantley. Despite the final result, he scored 20 points along with eight rebounds. Brantley scored a full 45.5% of Southwestern's points, the seventh time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Rocky Darr, who scored 11 points.

Southwestern's defeat ended a seven-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 12-7. As for Jersey, their victory ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 8-11.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Southwestern will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on North Greene at 7:30 p.m. on January 24th. As for Jersey, they will head out on the road to face off against Civic Memorial at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.