The matchup between the Santiago Sharks and the Yucaipa Thunderbirds on Saturday hardly resembled the 1-0 effort from their previous meeting. Santiago fell just short of Yucaipa by a score of 56-53. That's two games in a row now that Santiago has lost by exactly three points.
Yucaipa's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Malik Young led the charge by scoring 23 points. The contest was Young's 14th in a row with at least ten points. Tristan Doty was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 13 points and 16 rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for Santiago and nudges their season record down to 11-11. As for Yucaipa, their victory bumped their record up to 8-11.
Santiago will look to defend their home court on Wednesday against Centennial at 7:00 p.m. As for Yucaipa, they will head out on the road to face off against Redlands at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The timing is sure in Redlands' favor as the squad sits on three straight wins at home while Yucaipa has been banged up by six consecutive losses on the road dating back to last season.
