The Oxford Pirates will look to defend their home court on Monday against the Uxbridge Spartans at 6:30 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Oxford has struggled recently with four defeats in a row, while Uxbridge will arrive with four straight wins.
Last Monday, Oxford suffered a rough 64-44 loss at the hands of South. While losing is never fun, Oxford can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Massachusetts basketball rankings (they are ranked 220th, while South is ranked 109th).
Oxford's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Brady Marqoupis, who scored 18 points, and Nolan Remington who scored 16 points. That was a full 36.4% of Oxford's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Thursday Uxbridge sidestepped Southbridge for a 41-39 win. That's two games straight that Uxbridge has won by exactly two points.
Ethan Mccusker was his usual excellent self, scoring 17 points. That makes it four consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Uxbridge's points. The team also got some help courtesy of James Sanford, who scored seven points.
Oxford has traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last eight matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-10 record this season. As for Uxbridge, their victory bumped their record up to 11-5.
Oxford couldn't quite finish off Uxbridge when the teams last played back in January and fell 52-50. Will Oxford have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.