Freedom entered their matchup against Tavares on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Freedom Patriots fell 68-57 to the Tavares Bulldogs.
Freedom's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Riccardo Palombarini, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. Palombarini is becoming a predictor of Freedom's success: when he posts at least ten rebounds the team is 4-2 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Elensky Horatius, who posted ten points and five rebounds.
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Even though they lost, Freedom smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive board total in three consecutive contests.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Tavares to victory, but perhaps none more so than LANDON SAMUEL, who went 7 of 14 on his way to 22 points. SAMUEL has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. IZAYIA WILLIAMS was another key player, dropping a double-double on 14 points and 12 boards.
Freedom's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 5-4. As for Tavares, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 4-3.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Freedom will venture away from home to face off against Celebration at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Tavares, they will head out to challenge Liberty at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Liberty has been dominant on offense recently, having racked up an incredible 226 points over their last three games.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
