Basketball Game Preview: Avant Garde Academy Sharks vs. Oxbridge Academy ThunderWolves

The Avant Garde Academy Sharks will venture away from home to challenge the Oxbridge Academy ThunderWolves at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Avant Garde Academy will be strutting in after a victory while Oxbridge Academy will be coming in after a loss.

Last Monday, Avant Garde Academy earned a 48-35 win over Franklin Academy.

Avant Garde Academy relied on the efforts of Nikko Andino, who went 7 of 16 en route to 16 points in addition to eight rebounds and five steals, and Sergei Mikhalev, who went 8 for 13 on his way to 17 points along with eight boards and six steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Mikhalev has scored at least a third of Avant Garde Academy's points. Landon Guzman was another key player, putting up seven points and five assists.

Avant Garde Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Franklin Academy only pulled down eight offensive rebounds.

Meanwhile, Oxbridge Academy came up short against Tradition Prep on Wednesday and fell 73-66. While losing is never fun, the ThunderWolves can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 582nd, while the Pirates are ranked 202nd).

Avant Garde Academy will need focus on slowing down Edmyer StJean, one of several Oxbridge Academy players who made an impact when they last played. He went 6 of 11 en route to 19 points. StJean is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayden Molinary, who went 6 for 7 on his way to 15 points.

Avant Garde Academy has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.6 points per game. As for Oxbridge Academy, their defeat was their fifth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 4-12.