Host Alliance Christian Academy’s boys’ basketball team benefited on Saturday from the influx of some fresh talent since the last time it faced Suffolk Christian Academy, and it achieved a 74-47 victory.

“We were missing Steven (Effler) that night, so that kind of hurt us,” Knights coach Terry Leiter said.

Effler, a junior forward/guard, has been Suffolk Christian’s leading scorer this season.

In his absence, senior guard/forward Nathan Leiter led the Knights with 22 points.

“We learned some things in that game, just attitude-wise, that are going to help us,” Coach Leiter said.

Suffolk Christian was in good spirits entering the game after a highly competitive conference contest against the visiting Beach Breakers the night before.

The Breakers ended up with a 71-70 victory on Friday, but it was a significantly different result from the Dec. 9 game between the two teams, which the host Breakers won 65-53.

Friday’s game “was probably one the best games I’ve seen my guys play this season,” Coach Leiter said.

He noted just a couple of errors down the stretch cost the Knights the game, but they played well enough to be in a position to get the win.

“It kind of showed that we can play with anybody in our league,” he said.

The coach added that Effler, who was playing on Friday, turned in a fantastic performance, producing a game-high 32 points. Nathan Leiter added 12.

“It wasn’t just Steven and Nathan scoring,” Coach Leiter said. “We had a lot of other guys contribute that night also,” as only two players on the Suffolk Christian roster did not score.

Junior guard Michael Cornette had nine points, and sophomore center/forward Joel Blasiole added six.

The Knights (8-13, 3-6) host Summit Christian Academy on Friday in another Hampton Roads Athletic Conference showdown.