The Rauner Wildcats won the last time they faced the Rowe-Clark Masai Lions, and things went their way on Friday too. Rauner escaped with a win against Rowe-Clark by the margin of a single free throw, 39-38. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Rauner.
Rowe-Clark's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Arnez Jones, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds, and Taijuan Bloomingberg who scored seven points along with 15 rebounds and eight blocks. The game was Jones' fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Amontae Fulgham, who scored seven points along with five steals.
Even though they lost, Rowe-Clark were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Rauner pushed their record up to 6-2 with that win, which was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season. They've been dominating during the games in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 30.73 points. As for Rowe-Clark, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-7.
Rauner will finish 2023 at home by hosting Proviso East at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Rowe-Clark will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Butler at 7:00 p.m. on January 9, 2024.
