If the Pine Crest Panthers were riding high off their 75-55 takedown of Somerset Prep last Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Pine Crest was just a bucket shy of victory on Friday and fell 49-48 to Benjamin. Pine Crest has struggled against Benjamin recently, as their matchup on Friday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, Pine Crest saw an underclassman step up: Rowan Hoffman scored 23 points. Hoffman has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Joseph Teich, who scored ten points.
It was another big night for Drew Buchanan, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds for Benjamin. Another player making a difference was Adam Balogoun-ali, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Pine Crest's defeat dropped their record down to 5-8. As for Benjamin, their victory bumped their record up to 6-9.
Pine Crest will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against West Boca Raton at 7:00 p.m. Benjamin won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Elite Academy at 7:00 p.m. on January 13th. Elite Academy presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Benjamin in Florida (Elite Academy is ranked 134th, while Benjamin is ranked 388th).
