Mainland has been on the road for four straight, but on Thursday they'll finally head home. The Mainland Buccaneers and the Melbourne Bulldogs will face off at 7:00 p.m. on January 18th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Melbourne took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Mainland, who comes in off a win.
Even though IMG Academy Blue scored an imposing 72 points on Saturday, Mainland still came out on top. Mainland walked away with an 83-72 win over IMG Academy Blue. Given Mainland's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 54th, while IMG Academy Blue is ranked 223rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mainland got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Kade Manley out in front who went 7 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 27 points and 1 assist. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Manley has scored all season. Nathan Kirk was another key contributor, scoring 22 points.
Melbourne suffered their closest loss yet this season on Friday. They fell just short of Heritage by a score of 44-41. Melbourne has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Mainland's win bumped their record up to 12-4. As for Melbourne, they have been struggling recently, as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-8 record this season.
