Basketball Game Preview: Lakewood Leopards vs. Pender Patriots

Lakewood is 3-0 against Pender since November of 2022 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Lakewood Leopards will host the Pender Patriots at 7:30 p.m. Lakewood will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.

Lakewood will bounce into Monday's contest after beating Clinton, who they had gone 0-9 against in their nine prior meetings. Lakewood blew past Clinton 69-35 on Monday. That 34 point margin sets a new team best for the Leopards this season.

Lakewood can attribute much of their success to Xavier Hall, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 boards, and Cameron Williams, who went 6 of 11 on his way to 15 points and six rebounds. The match was Williams' sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Dontaveous Smith, who posted seven points in addition to five rebounds and four steals.

Lakewood smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in three consecutive games.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Pender). They rang in the new year with a 58-50 victory over Red Springs on Monday.

Pender's win came from a few key players Lakewood will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Malcolm Driver, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 14 boards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rebounds. Another player making a difference was Jaheim Lambe, who had 11 points.

Lakewood pushed their record up to 7-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.2 points per game. As for Pender, their victory bumped their record up to 2-5.

Lakewood strolled past Pender in their previous matchup back in December of 2024 by a score of 65-49. Will Lakewood repeat their success, or does Pender have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.