Pensacola and Escambia are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2020, but not for long. The Pensacola Tigers will host the Escambia Gators at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Pensacola is coming into the game on a five-game losing streak.
Last Friday, Pensacola lost to Gulf Breeze at home by a 65-47 margin. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 466th, while the Dolphins are ranked 68th).
| 01/10/25 vs Gulf Breeze | 8 |
| 01/09/25 @ Fort Walton Beach | 6 |
| 11/22/24 @ Gulf Breeze | 5 |
| 12/19/24 @ Orange Beach | 4 |
| 12/03/24 vs Pine Forest | 4 |
Pensacola's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Jamarcuz Fountain, who posted 12 points and eight assists, and Antoine Fomond, who scored eight points and seven rebounds. The dominant performance gave Fountain a new career-high in assists. Rupert Sproles was another key player, putting up eight points.
They weren't the only one working in the assists department: Pensacola was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Escambia ended up a good deal behind Gulf Breeze on Thursday and lost 63-44. The Gators haven't had much luck with the Dolphins recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Pensacola will need focus on slowing down Roycen Jones, one of several Escambia players who made an impact when they last played. He put up 12 points. Another player making a difference was Hampton Brasfield, who had ten points.
Escambia's loss dropped their record down to 3-12. As for Pensacola, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-11.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pensacola has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 21.4 boards per game. However, it's not like Escambia struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Pensacola suffered a grim 53-32 defeat to Escambia in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Escambia's Travaris Coleman, who went 7 for 10 on his way to 18 points. Now that Pensacola knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
