The Hobart Brickies's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their fifth straight loss. They lost to Valparaiso on the road by a decisive 65-50 margin. Hobart has struggled against Valparaiso recently, as their match on Tuesday was their eighth consecutive lost matchup.
Felix Lopez and Anthony Hnilo certainly did their best on Tuesday to avoid the loss. Lopez scored 18 points along with six rebounds, while Hnilo scored 22 points. Hnilo continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played.
Hobart struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Jack Smiley was his usual excellent self, scoring 23 points along with six assists and five rebounds for Valparaiso. That makes it three consecutive games in which Smiley has scored at least a third of Valparaiso's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Caden Crowell, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds.
Hobart's loss was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 7-8. As for Valparaiso, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season.
Hobart will head out on the road to take on Andrean at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Andrean presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Hobart in Indiana (Andrean is ranked 142nd, while Hobart is ranked 292nd). As for Valparaiso, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Crown Point at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Crown Point sitting on six straight wins and Valparaiso on five.
