The Euclid Panthers's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their eighth straight defeat. They suffered a tough 109-83 loss at the hands of Mentor. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (60), Euclid still had to take the loss.
Euclid lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Thai Duncan, who scored 24 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Malachai Spikes, who scored 17 points.
Mentor had a senior duo take command as Matthew Biddell scored 36 points along with eight rebounds and six assists and Ian Ioppolo dropped a double-double on 33 points and 12 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Ioppolo has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Makel Harrison, who scored ten points along with eight assists and four steals.
Euclid dropped their record down to 3-15 with that loss, which was their sixth straight at home. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.0 points per game. As for Mentor, their victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 10-6.
Euclid will face off against Shaker Heights at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Euclid is facing Shaker Heights at the right time seeing as Shaker Heights is stuck on a nine-game losing streak. As for Mentor, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Cleveland Heights at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Mentor's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season.
