The Mt. Vernon Rams had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They had just enough and edged Charleston out 43-41. Given Mt. Vernon's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 44th, while Charleston is ranked 328th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Despite the loss, Charleston still got an impressive performance from Adam Rudibaugh, who scored 14 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Oakley, who scored eight points.
Mt. Vernon has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-5 record this season. As for Charleston, they are on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 8-11.
Mt. Vernon will be playing in front of their home fans against Althoff Catholic at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Charleston's road trip will continue as they head out to face Carbondale at 12:30 p.m. on January 20th.
