Even though the Richmond Raiders scored an imposing 78 points on Saturday, the John Marshall Justices still came out on top. John Marshall managed a 84-78 win over Richmond. Given John Marshall's advantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked tenth in Virginia, while Richmond is ranked 54th in North Carolina), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
John Marshall was led to victory by Latrell Allmond and Aiden Argabright. Allmond scored 22 points along with 5 rebounds, while Argabright scored 23 points along with 5 rebounds. That makes it two consecutive games in which Argabright has scored at least 25% of John Marshall's points. Another player making a difference was Damon Thompson Jr, who scored 14 points.
Richmond's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Paul McNeil, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 15 rebounds. McNeil scored a full 35.9% of Richmond's points, the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of JV Drake, who scored 22 points along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
John Marshall now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Richmond, their loss dropped their record down to 3-1.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. John Marshall will take on Steward at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Steward knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past three matchups -- so hopefully John Marshall likes a good challenge. As for Richmond, they will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against Pinecrest at 7:30 p.m.
