Basketball Recap: Peter Radigan's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Freedom over King

Freedom suffered their closest loss since December 27, 2023 on Friday. They fell just short of the King Lions by a score of 54-51. The Patriots haven't had much luck with the Lions recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.

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 Peter Radigan, who posted six points and 19 rebounds. Radigan is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down ten or more in the last ten games he's played. Josh DeVore was another key player, putting up 12 points.

Even though they lost, Freedom smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in five consecutive games.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead King to victory, but perhaps none more so than Rodney Smith, who went 5 of 12 on his way to 12 points along with five boards and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Nuri Hakim, who went 6 of 14 on his way to 13 points in addition to six assists and five boards.

Freedom now has a losing record at 5-6. As for King, they moved to 3-8 with that victory, which also ended their four-game losing streak.

Freedom will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Ball at 5:30 p.m. on December 27th. As for King, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 58-50 defeat against Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate on the 14th.