Basketball Game Preview: Dove Creek Bulldogs vs. Nucla Mustangs

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Previous Games

12/21/24 - Home	54-31 W
02/16/24 - Away	47-32 W
01/11/24 - Home	52-35 W
12/16/23 - Home	54-24 W
12/09/23 - Neutral	49-42 W
+ 5 more games

Dove Creek is 10-0 against Nucla since February of 2022 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Dove Creek Bulldogs will host the Nucla Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Nucla will be up against a hot Dove Creek team: the squad just extended their winning streak to seven. Dove Creek blew past Dolores 60-20 on Saturday. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 139th, while the Bears are ranked 290th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Nucla's strategy against Dolores on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Nucla blew Dolores out of the water with a 48-7 final score. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 31-2.

Dove Creek better focus on containing Lantry Galley and Darcy Bray as the pair were huge in Nucla's win. Galley dropped a double-double on 14 points and 12 boards, while Bray posted six points in addition to ten rebounds and eight steals. That's the most rebounds Galley has posted since back in December of 2023. Shay Snyder was another key player, putting up eight points.

Nucla smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 28 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 29 consecutive matches dating back to last season.

Dove Creek's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-3. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.0 points per game. As for Nucla, their win bumped their record up to 11-3.

Dove Creek took their victory against Nucla in their previous matchup back in December of 2024 by a conclusive 54-31. Will Dove Creek repeat their success, or does Nucla have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.