Even though the Oak Grove Panthers scored an imposing 56 points on Friday, the Moberly Spartans still came out on top. In a tight match that could have gone either way, Moberly made off with a 57-56 victory over Oak Grove. With that win, Moberly brought their scoring average up to 52.5 points per game.
Moberly's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ethan Land led the charge by scoring 11 points along with 7 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Kish Jacobs jr, who scored 11 points along with 3 steals.
When it comes to explaining why Oak Grove lost, one person who can't be blamed is Maurkalip Riley. Despite the final result, he scored 14 points along with 8 rebounds and 6 steals. The contest was Riley's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Phillip Nadeau, who scored 14 points along with 7 rebounds.
The victory got Moberly back to even at 1-1. As for Oak Grove, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-1.
Moberly will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Hannibal at 8:30 p.m. on December 12th. Oak Grove will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Boonville at 7:00 p.m. on December 21st.
