Even though the College Prep of America Thunder scored an imposing 60 points on Saturday, Salam still came out on top. Salam narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past College Prep of America 63-60. Given Salam's advantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 139th in Wisconsin, while College Prep of America is ranked 639th in Illinois), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
College Prep of America's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Hamzah Shouman, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 12 rebounds. Shouman scored a full 35% of College Prep of America's points, the sixth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Hasan Hasan was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with five rebounds.
Salam's win bumped their record up to 5-1. As for College Prep of America, their loss dropped their record down to 5-10.
Salam will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Eastbrook Academy at 7:30 p.m. on January 9, 2024. College Prep of America will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Westmont at 7:00 p.m. on January 10, 2024.
