The Fuquay - Varina Bengals have not had quite the year their fans were hoping for to this point, but back-to-back wins may be a sign of good things to come. They secured a 53-48 W over Cleveland on Tuesday. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Fuquay - Varina also won the last time the pair played back in December of 2023.
Fuquay - Varina's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Abdou Diop led the charge by almost dropping a double-double on 17 points and nine rebounds. Diop has been hot recently, having posted 17 or more points the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Nick Clark, who scored 11 points along with two steals.
When it comes to explaining why Cleveland lost, one person who can't be blamed is Rodney Poston. Despite the final result, he scored 19 points along with six steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Poston has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Trey Atkinson, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Fuquay - Varina's win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 5-12. As for Cleveland, they now have a losing record at 9-10.
Fuquay - Varina will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Bulldogs at 7:45 p.m. Southeast Raleigh presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than the Bengals in North Carolina (the Bulldogs are ranked 160th, while the Bengals are ranked 418th). As for Cleveland, they won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against the Pirates at 7:45 p.m. on January 31st. Corinth Holders is out to stop a six-game streak of losses at home.
