The Needles Mustangs put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They blew past Awaken Christian 82-32 at home. Needles has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 matches by 21 points or more this season.
Leading Needles to victory were Luca Walema and Xavier Russell. Walema dropped a double-double on 21 points and 15 rebounds, while Russell scored 27 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Russell is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last six games he's played. Another player making a difference was Darrell Russell, who scored seven points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Despite the loss, Awaken Christian saw an underclassman step up: Jaylen Jordan scored ten points along with three steals.
Needles' win was their 15th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-0. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.2 points per game. As for Awaken Christian, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-5.
Needles will head out on the road to take on Adelson at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Adelson has now lost 11 straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since November 28. Awaken Christian won't have much time to rest: their next match is against GV Christian at 7:00 p.m. on January 19th. Hopefully GV Christian focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 13 on Thursday.
