The Stamford Black Knights will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Staples Wreckers at 7:00 p.m. Stamford knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past six games -- so hopefully Staples likes a good challenge.
Even though Darien scored an imposing 59 points on Wednesday, Stamford still came out on top. Stamford snuck past Darien with a 63-59 win. 63 seems to be a good number for Stamford as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
Stamford's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ejai Presley led the charge by scoring 21 points along with five rebounds and four steals. Presley is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last five games he's played. Another player making a difference was Damar Taylor, who scored 12 points along with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Staples fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Norwalk on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell 78-71 to the Bears. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their last game on Monday (59), Staples still had to take the loss.
Despite the defeat, Staples saw an underclassman step up: Sam Clachko scored 28 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. Clachko has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Adam Udell was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six assists.
Stamford's victory bumped their record up to 8-1. As for Staples, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-3.
Friday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy match: Stamford have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 22.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Staples struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 27.8 rebounds per game. Given Stamford's sizeable advantage in that area, Staples will need to find a way to close that gap.
Stamford skirted past Staples 63-60 when the teams last played back in January of 2023. Does Stamford have another victory up their sleeve, or will Staples turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
