The Belmont Bison will head out on the road to challenge the Stivers School for the Arts Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Belmont will be strutting in after a victory while Stivers School for the Arts will be coming in after a defeat.
Even though Belmont has not done well against Thurgood Marshall recently (they were 1-7 in their previous eight matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Everything went Belmont's way against Thurgood Marshall as Belmont made off with a 84-59 win. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Belmont to victory, but perhaps none more so than Denzell Ogle, who scored 20 points along with nine rebounds and five steals. Ogle hasn't dropped below two steals for eight straight games. Another player making a difference was Judah Baldwin, who scored 19 points along with eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, Stivers School for the Arts struggled with assists on Tuesday (Dunbar had ten more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Stivers School for the Arts took a 64-50 bruising from Dunbar. While losing is never fun, Stivers School for the Arts can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 548th, while Dunbar is ranked 226th).
Stivers School for the Arts' defeat came about despite a quality game from Amaury Hawes, who scored 22 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Hawes is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last four games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin Wright, who scored 14 points.
Belmont now has a winning record of 8-7. As for Stivers School for the Arts, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-9.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Belmont hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 63.9 points per game. It's a different story for Stivers School for the Arts, though, as they've been averaging only 54.3 points per game. The only thing between Belmont and another offensive beatdown is Stivers School for the Arts. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Belmont didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Stivers School for the Arts when the teams last played back in December of 2023, but they still walked away with a 65-59 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Hawes, who scored 24 points along with five steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Belmont still be able to contain him? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
