This season hasn't been kind to the Southwestern Randolph Cougars, who are still winless after their eighth match. They fell 69-56 to Trinity on Friday. While losing is never fun, Southwestern Randolph can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 588th, while Trinity is ranked 183rd).
When it comes to explaining why Southwestern Randolph lost, one person who can't be blamed is Marcus Robertson. Despite the final result, he scored 28 points along with five rebounds. Robertson scored a full 50% of Southwestern Randolph's points, the sixth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Nathan Ellis was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with six assists and five rebounds.
Dominic Payne was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 35 points and 11 rebounds for Trinity. The match was Payne's ninth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jacob Hodges, who scored nine points along with four steals.
Southwestern Randolph bumped their record down to 0-8 with that defeat, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.3 points per game. As for Trinity, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 6-3.
Southwestern Randolph will head out on the road to face off against Providence Grove at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Trinity will be home for the holidays to greet Wheatmore at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Wheatmore has now lost eight straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since November 20.
