The third road contest was the charm for the North Duplin Rebels, as they earned their first road win of the season. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Jones 64-61. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Leading North Duplin to victory were Dujuan Armwood and Micah Lesesane. Armwood scored 23 points along with nine rebounds, while Lesesane dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 rebounds. Those 13 rebounds set a new season-high mark for him.
Jones' loss on Wednesday came despite strong showings from Keonte' Roberts and Gabriel Butler. Roberts shot 4-for-5 from long range and dropped a double-double on 24 points and 12 assists, while Butler dropped a double-double on 24 points and ten rebounds. The match was Roberts 's eighth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Gjamarion Burris, who scored five points along with 15 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Jones were working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
The win got North Duplin back to even at 3-3. As for Jones, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-3.
North Duplin will take on Wayne Preparatory Academy in a holiday battle at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday at. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in North Carolina (Wayne Preparatory Academy is ranked 398th, while North Duplin is ranked 423rd). Jones will be home for the holidays to greet Washington Montessori at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Washington Montessori is still on the hunt for that elusive first 'W'.
