The Charleston Trojans's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fourth straight loss. They fell just short of Mt. Vernon by a score of 43-41. While losing is never fun, Charleston can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 328th, while Mt. Vernon is ranked 44th).
Despite the loss, Charleston still got an impressive performance from Adam Rudibaugh, who scored 14 points. Another player making a difference was Tyler Oakley, who scored eight points.
Mt. Vernon was led to victory by Cale Maurer and Navontae D nesbit jr.. Maurer scored 16 points, while D nesbit jr. scored 17 points along with three steals. That makes it seven consecutive games in which D nesbit jr. has scored at least a third of Mt. Vernon's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Equinton Millsap, who scored two points along with three steals.
Charleston has not been sharp recently, as they've lost five of their last six contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-11 record this season. As for Mt. Vernon, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 16-5.
Charleston on the road again on Saturday and play against Carbondale at 12:30 p.m. on January 20th. Mt. Vernon won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against East St. Louis at 7:30 p.m. on January 19th. East St. Louis knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven matchups -- so hopefully Mt. Vernon likes a good challenge.
