The Simon Gratz Bulldogs waltzed into their contest on Tuesday with five straight wins but they left with six. They took down Paul Robeson 68-52. Given Simon Gratz's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 211th, while Paul Robeson is ranked 502nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Jabrelle Dennison, who scored 39 points. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Sihaaj Johnson, who scored 16 points.
Paul Robeson's loss came despite strong showings from Rakeem Dunston and Sharif Bradley. Dunston scored 13 points along with five steals, while Bradley scored 12 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. Dunston has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last nine times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Shafeeq Davis, who scored five points along with three steals.
Simon Gratz has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. As for Paul Robeson, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-12.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Simon Gratz will challenge George Washington at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully George Washington focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 13 on Tuesday. As for Paul Robeson, they will head out on the road to face off against Academy at Palumbo at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. The timing is sure in Academy at Palumbo's favor as the team sits on four straight wins at home while Paul Robeson has been banged up by six consecutive losses on the road.
