The Atlantic Coast Stingrays lost against the Mandarin Mustangs back in December of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. Atlantic Coast lost to Mandarin on the road by a decisive 64-49 margin. Atlantic Coast has struggled against Mandarin recently, as their matchup on Thursday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Atlantic Coast's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was JP Pearson, who scored 17 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Malik Aker, who scored eight points.
Dylan McCleod was his usual excellent self, scoring 23 points for Mandarin. Another player making a difference was Justin Squire, who scored four points along with five rebounds and four blocks.
Atlantic Coast's loss was their tenth straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 1-16. As for Mandarin, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-5.
Atlantic Coast will head out on the road to face off against First Coast at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. First Coast presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Atlantic Coast in Florida (First Coast is ranked 220th, while Atlantic Coast is ranked 654th). Mandarin won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Trinity Christian Academy at 7:00 p.m. on January 12th.
