Basketball Game Preview: Lakewood Spartans vs. IMG Academy White Ascenders

The Lakewood Spartans are taking a road trip to take on the IMG Academy White Ascenders at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Lakewood is coming into the game on a five-game losing streak.

Lakewood is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against Gibbs on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Lakewood was outmatched by Gibbs and fell 74-40. While losing is never fun, the Spartans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 289th, while the Gladiators are ranked 11th).

IMG Academy White fell on hard times earlier this season, but after back-to-back wins it seems like their luck might finally be changing. They came out on top against Archbishop Carroll by a score of 42-30 on Friday. That 12 point margin sets a new team best for the Ascenders this season.

Lakewood's defeat dropped their record down to 8-12. As for IMG Academy White, their victory bumped their record up to 5-12.

Lakewood was able to grind out a solid win over IMG Academy White in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, winning 54-46. Will Lakewood repeat their success, or does IMG Academy White have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.