The Smoky Mountain Mustangs managed to keep up with the Asheville Cougars until halftime on Friday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Smoky Mountain ended up on the wrong side of a rough 70-47 walloping at the hands of Asheville. Smoky Mountain has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Smoky Mountain's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Custer Prenger, who scored 15 points along with five rebounds. Prenger scored a full 31.9% of Smoky Mountain's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Cameron Fowler, who scored five points along with six assists and four steals.
Aris Joyner continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Asheville, scoring 21 points along with five rebounds and five steals. Joyner set a new season high mark in blocks with two. Another player making a difference was Zeke Garris, who scored 13 points.
Smoky Mountain bumped their record down to 1-8 with that loss, which was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.4 points per game. As for Asheville, their win bumped their record up to 2-5.
Smoky Mountain will finish 2023 at home by hosting Robbinsville at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Robbinsville will be coming into the contest with an undefeated record on the line. Asheville and Dawson-Bryant will round out the year against one another at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday at. Dawson-Bryant is still on the hunt for that elusive first 'W'.
