The Rio Grande Ravens's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Wednesday after their ninth straight defeat. They fell 59-52 to Albuquerque. While losing is never fun, Rio Grande can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 65th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 17th).
Rio Grande lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Santiago Gonzalez, who scored 18 points along with seven rebounds. That was a full 34.6% of Rio Grande's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Mateo Gonzalez was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds.
Rio Grande dropped their record down to 5-12 with that loss, which was their sixth straight at home. As for Albuquerque, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 13-6.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Rio Grande will stay at home for another game and welcome the Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on February 2nd. Los Lunas knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three contests -- so hopefully the Ravens like a good challenge. As for Albuquerque, they will be playing in front of their home fans against the Monarchs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
