The Universal Academy Falcons will square off against the Cristo Rey Tampa Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Having struggled with 16 defeats in a row dating back to last season, Universal Academy turned things around against Hifz Academy on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 39-36 win over the Pegasuses.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Cristo Rey Tampa, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. They came out on top against Pepin Academy on Monday by a score of 2-0 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game). For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Panthers have posted since January 25, 2024.
Cristo Rey Tampa's win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 4-7. As for Universal Academy, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-12.
Universal Academy came up short against Cristo Rey Tampa in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, falling 55-43. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cristo Rey Tampa's Bryan Vargas, who shot 4-for-4 from deep and dropped a double-double on 25 points and 11 rebounds. Now that Universal Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
