Basketball Recap: Newark Central Comes Up Short

Newark Central was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their 12th straight loss dating back to last season. They fell 72-61 to the Hoboken Redwings. While losing is never fun, the Blue Devils can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Jersey basketball rankings (they are ranked 359th, while the Redwings are ranked 78th).

Despite the loss, Newark Central still got an impressive performance from Drean Aikins, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 15 boards. The dominant performance gave Aikins a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Yam'Bya Ndaw, who posted five points in addition to eight rebounds and seven blocks.

Even though they lost, Newark Central was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive games.

Newark Central's defeat dropped their record down to 0-11. As for Hoboken, their win bumped their record up to 7-5.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Newark Central will take on West Side at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. As for Hoboken, they will challenge North Bergen at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.