Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to post seven more assists than your opponent, a fact the New Bern Bears proved on Thursday. They walked away with a 60-53 victory over Ashley. For New Bern, this counts as revenge for the 62-51 defeat Ashley walked away with the last time they faced one another back in November of 2022.
New Bern can attribute much of their success to Zymari Buck, who scored 20 points. The matchup was Buck's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Brewer Simmons, who scored 9 points along with 6 rebounds.
When it comes to explaining why Ashley lost, one person who can't be blamed is Coen Locklear. Despite the final result, he scored 14 points along with 6 rebounds. Locklear scored a full 26.4% of Ashley's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Keyon Jones was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
New Bern now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Ashley, they now have a losing record at 1-2.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. New Bern will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against West Craven at 6:30 p.m. on December 1st. As for Ashley, they will square off against New Bern at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in North Carolina (New Bern is ranked 154th, while Ashley is ranked 177th).
