The Mt. Vernon Rams had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Charleston and snuck past 43-41. Given Mt. Vernon's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 44th, while Charleston is ranked 328th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mt. Vernon was led to victory by Cale Maurer and Navontae D nesbit jr.. Maurer scored 16 points, while D nesbit jr. scored 14 points along with three steals. D nesbit jr. hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. Equinton Millsap was another key contributor, scoring two points along with three steals.
Despite the loss, Charleston still got an impressive performance from Adam Rudibaugh, who scored 14 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Oakley, who scored eight points.
Mt. Vernon has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-5 record this season. As for Charleston, they are on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 8-11.
Mt. Vernon won't have much time to rest: their next game is against East St. Louis at 7:30 p.m. on January 19th. One thing working in East St. Louis' favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last seven matches. Charleston's road trip will continue as they head out to face Carbondale at 12:30 p.m. on January 20th.
