The Rocky Mount Gryphons will head out on the road to face off against the Northern Nash Knights at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Rocky Mount focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 15 on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Rocky Mount was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 51-46 to Franklinton. Rocky Mount has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Anthony Jones put forth a good effort for the losing side as he dropped a double-double on 30 points and 19 rebounds. He has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 14 times he's played. Another player making a difference was Gerald Davis, who scored four points along with nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Northern Nash had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17.9 points), and they went ahead and made it ten on Tuesday. They blew past Southern Nash 74-46 on the road. Northern Nash has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 20 points or more this season.
Izeal Mallory II was his usual excellent self, scoring 26 points along with eight rebounds. Randall King was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Rocky Mount's loss dropped their record down to 6-12. As for Northern Nash, their win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-7.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Rocky Mount have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Northern Nash struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Rocky Mount came up short against Northern Nash when the teams last played back in January, falling 78-68. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mallory II, who scored 30 points along with seven rebounds and five steals. Now that Rocky Mount knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
