After flying high against Somerset Prep last Tuesday, the Pine Crest Panthers came back down to earth. Pine Crest was just a bucket shy of victory on Friday and fell 49-48 to Benjamin. Pine Crest has struggled against Benjamin recently, as their game on Friday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, Pine Crest still got an impressive performance from Rowan Hoffman, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 11 rebounds. Hoffman has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Joseph Teich was another key contributor, scoring ten points.
Pine Crest struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Benjamin pulled down 14 offensive rebounds.
It was another big night for Drew Buchanan, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds for Benjamin. Another player making a difference was Adam Balogoun-ali, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Pine Crest's loss dropped their record down to 5-8. As for Benjamin, their victory bumped their record up to 6-9.
Pine Crest will be playing at home against West Boca Raton at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Benjamin won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Elite Academy at 7:00 p.m. on January 13th. Elite Academy presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Benjamin in Florida (Elite Academy is ranked 124th, while Benjamin is ranked 396th).
