Basketball Game Preview: Topsail Pirates vs. Croatan Cougars

The Topsail Pirates will head out to challenge the Croatan Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.

Topsail blew New Bern out of the water the last time the pair played, but on Friday New Bern got their revenge. The Pirates fell just short of the Bears by a score of 50-47. The Pirates have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Croatan kicked off their season on the road on Tuesday and hit a couple of potholes. They fell 59-54 to Topsail.

Topsail will have to contain Tyler Thorpe as he made an impact in Croatan's last game. He posted 14 points and six assists. Another player making a difference was Gavin Zheng, who had six points and seven assists.

Topsail now has a losing record of 1-2. As for Croatan, their loss dropped their record down to 0-1.

Topsail didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Croatan when the teams last played on Tuesday, but they still walked away with a 59-54 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Pirates since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.