The New Bern Bears (New Bern, NC) basketball nipped the host J.H. Rose Rampants (Greenville, NC), 53-51 in Monday's league test.

The Bears (14-2) will now prepare for their test against Jacksonville (Jacksonville, NC). The Cardinals go into the test with a 10-2 record. In their last test, Jacksonville got by D.H. Conley (Greenville, NC), 57-54, in a non-league test.

The Rampants now own a 9-3 record. They play next when they host South Central for a test on Wednesday, January 31. J.H. Rose will encounter a Falcons squad coming off a 44-23 league win over Havelock (Havelock, NC). The Falcons record now stands at 7-7.