The Marion Swamp Foxes will head out to square off against the Manning Monarchs at 7:45 p.m. on Friday. Manning took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Marion, who comes in off a win.
On Wednesday, Marion beat Kingstree 51-40. Given the Swamp Foxes' advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 100th, while the Blazers are ranked 257th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Manning played a tough matchup on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They had to suffer through a 71-41 loss at the hands of Atlantic Collegiate Academy. The Monarchs were down 57-31 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.
Marion will need focus on slowing down Lovell Stevenson, one of several Manning players who made an impact when they last played. He posted eight points in addition to five rebounds and three steals. Stevenson has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Lovon Stevenson, who earned four points along with seven boards and three steals.
Even though they lost, Manning smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in five consecutive contests.
Marion has been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten games, which provided a massive bump to their 10-12 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.9 points per game. As for Manning, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-5.
Marion was able to grind out a solid win over Manning in their previous matchup back in January, winning 56-46. The rematch might be a little tougher for Marion since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
