Basketball Game Preview: East St. Louis Flyers vs. DeKalb Barbs

The East St. Louis Flyers will take on the DeKalb Barbs at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. East St. Louis has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

Last Tuesday, East St. Louis strolled past Belleville East with points to spare, taking the game 63-45. The win was all the more spectacular given the Flyers' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 134th, while the Lancers are ranked 48th).

East St. Louis' win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Alex Johnson, who went 9 of 17 on his way to 25 points in addition to seven boards and three steals. Johnson has been hot recently, having posted three or more steals the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Ishaia Brown, who posted two points along with 24 rebounds and three steals.

East St. Louis smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in eight consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, DeKalb had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They walked away with a 48-35 victory over the Spartans.

DeKalb has also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a massive bump to their 11-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.2 points per game. As for East St. Louis, they pushed their record up to 8-10 with the win, which was their third straight at home.