In what's become a running theme this season, the Mainland Buccaneers gave their fans yet another huge victory on Saturday. They claimed a resounding 74-37 win over Pine Ridge on the road. With Mainland ahead 46-26 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Leading Mainland to victory were Nathan Kirk and Narayan Thomas. Kirk scored 20 points along with seven steals and six assists, while Thomas dropped a double-double on 27 points and ten rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Thomas has scored all season. Another player making a difference was DeAndre Newland, who scored eight points along with nine rebounds.
When it comes to explaining why Pine Ridge lost, one person who can't be blamed is Elijah Laird. Despite the final result, he scored 19 points along with five rebounds. Laird has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last ten times he's played.
Mainland has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season. As for Pine Ridge, their loss dropped their record down to 7-11.
Mainland's road trip will continue as they head out to face Atlantic at 7:00 p.m. on January 24th. Atlantic will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak. As for Pine Ridge, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Astronaut at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Astronaut presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Pine Ridge in Florida (Astronaut is ranked 184th, while Pine Ridge is ranked 428th).
