The James Irwin Jaguars typically have all the answers at home, but on Tuesday the Lamar Thunder proved too difficult a challenge. They walked away with a 56-49 victory over the Jaguars. That's another feather in the cap for Lamar, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
Lamar found their leader in underclassman Jacob Dunning, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds. Dunning also posted two blocks for the first time this season. Another player making a difference was Alex Williams, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds.
Lamar's lineup was just a bit different on Tuesday as Diego Estrada got a bit more time on the court (15 vs. his season average of 6.19). Estrada made the most of the opportunity, scoring ten points. A few more games like that and he might be seeing even more time going forward.
Despite the loss, James Irwin still got an impressive performance from Malik Willis, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds. Willis is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down ten or more in the last nine games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Matthew Lebron, who scored 19 points.
Lamar has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season. As for James Irwin, their defeat ended a seven-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-4.
Lamar will head out on the road to challenge Woodland Park at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Lamar is facing Woodland Park at the right time seeing as Woodland Park is stuck on a eight-game losing streak. As for James Irwin, they will be playing at home against Buena Vista at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Buena Vista focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 15 on Tuesday.
