Basketball Game Preview: Cyprus Pirates vs. East Leopards

The Cyprus Pirates will be taking part in a tournament against the East Leopards at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

While Cyprus didn't have the best season last year (they finished 6-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They came out on top against Cedar Valley by a score of 73-62 last Friday.

Cyprus' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Paden Sharp led the charge by going 6 of 9 from beyond the arc en route to 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Beckham Bayles, who went 5 for 10 on his way to 17 points.

Cyprus was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cedar Valley only racked up eight assists.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask East). They were the clear victor by a 76-50 margin over Elko on Friday. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Leopards as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.

Cyprus' win bumped their record up to 6-3. As for East, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.

Cyprus took a serious blow against East in their previous meeting back in February of 2015, falling 77-50. Can Cyprus avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.