By Jacob Mathias

The Assumption Royals varsity boys basketball team hit the road and lost a close 61-57 matchup to the Stratford Tigers on December 21.

The Royals entered the game following a 59-41 win over the Auburndale Apaches on December 18. Assumption’s overall record now stands at 3-4 and 1-2 in Marawood Conference play.

Assumption came out ahead and finished the first half with a 27-20 lead but the Tigers rallied back in the second quarter, scoring 41 points to the Royals’ 30 and took the win.

Lead scorers for Assumption were sophomore guard Jake Sullivan with 12 points and sophomore forward Joe Grundhoffer with 11 points. Junior guard Trevor Newton and senior forward Nate Clark both added 10 points to the final score.

Defensively, Stratford led Assumption with 19 rebounds to to the Royals 14. The Tigers sank 73 percent from the free throw line while the Royals only dropped 45 percent of their foul shots.

Leading the Tigers was senior forward Derrick Schmidt with 27 points and senior guard Ethan Nagel with 13 points.

The Royals return to the court on January 5 when they hit the road to take on the Amherst Falcons at 7:00 PM.