Basketball Game Preview: Commerce Tigers vs. Social Circle Redskins

Commerce is 0-8 against Social Circle since November of 2018 but things could change on Thursday. The Commerce Tigers will look to defend their home court against the Social Circle Redskins at 7:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Commerce is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. In a tight contest that could have gone either way, they made off with a 70-69 win over Franklin County. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Tigers.

Commerce's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Essien Lockleer, who went 8 of 10 on his way to 18 points and seven rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Evan Peters, who went 7 of 10 on his way to 16 points and six rebounds.

Meanwhile, Social Circle came up short against Mountain View on Saturday and fell 64-57.

Despite the loss, Social Circle saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Leson Nelson almost dropped a double-double on 20 points and nine boards. Nelson has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Derrick White was another key player, putting up ten points and six rebounds.

Commerce's win bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Social Circle, they now have a losing record at 2-3.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Commerce has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Social Circle struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Commerce was taken down by Social Circle 86-53 in their previous meeting back in February of 2022. Can Commerce avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.