Fans at Tuesday's non-league challenge between the Pine River-Backus Tigers (Pine River, MN) and the host Verndale Pirates (Verndale, MN), saw Pine River-Backus's basketball squad knock off Verndale by a score of 76-68.

With the victory, Pine River-Backus improves its record to 6-8 on the campaign. The Tigers travel to Red Lake (Red Lake, MN) to battle the Warriors in a Northland challenge on Friday, January 20. The Warriors come into the challenge with a record of 10-5. Red Lake won 92-81 in their recent league challenge against Kelliher/Northome (Northome, MN)

Next up, the Pirates battle the Sebeka Trojans (Sebeka, MN) in a Park Region challenge, on Thursday, January 19. Verndale will attempt to improve on its 4-8 season record. The Trojans come into the challenge with a 2-9 record after their 79-29 non-league loss to Upsala (Upsala, MN).