Even though the Cyprus Pirates scored an imposing 56 points on Friday, the Juan Diego Catholic Soaring Eagle still came out on top. Juan Diego Catholic sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 58-56 victory over Cyprus. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win Juan Diego Catholic has posted yet this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Juan Diego Catholic to victory, but perhaps none more so than Caden Fenger, who scored 11 points along with five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Rahiti Tinirauarii, who scored 17 points.
Despite the loss, Cyprus still got an impressive performance from Paden Sharp, who went 8 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 24 points and 1 assist. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Sharp has scored all season. Xian Brown was another key contributor, scoring 12 points.
Even though they lost, Cyprus were working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. This was only their ninth loss (out of ten games) when they've passed the ball that well.
The victory got Juan Diego Catholic back to even at 7-7. As for Cyprus, they are on a seven-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-13.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Juan Diego Catholic will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against Hunter at 7:00 p.m. on January 16th. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Utah (Hunter is ranked 80th, while Juan Diego Catholic is ranked 56th). As for Cyprus, they will head out on the road to take on Granger at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Granger is out to stop a seven-game streak of losses at home.
