Basketball Game Preview: Hickory Red Tornadoes vs. North Lincoln Knights

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Previous Games

01/03/25 - Home	80-78 W
03/01/24 - Home	88-46 W
02/23/24 - Home	89-68 W
01/30/24 - Home	88-58 W
01/05/24 - Away	76-70 W
+ 5 more games

Hickory has gone 10-0 against North Lincoln recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Hickory Red Tornadoes will take on the North Lincoln Knights at 7:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Hickory took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They snuck past East Lincoln with a 73-68 win.

Meanwhile, North Lincoln entered their tilt with Statesville on Friday with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. They enjoyed a cozy 68-49 victory over the Greyhounds.

North Lincoln's win came from a few key players Hickory will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ben Heavner, who went 5 of 9 en route to 13 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. Another player making a difference was Ty Sanders, who posted 17 points in addition to seven boards and three steals.

North Lincoln was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Statesville only racked up 13 assists.

Hickory pushed their record up to 9-3 with the win, which was their 21st straight at home dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 82.2 points per game. As for North Lincoln, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season.

Hickory came out on top in a nail-biter against North Lincoln in their previous meeting on January 3rd, sneaking past 80-78. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was North Lincoln's Kellen Karr, who almost dropped a triple-double on 17 points, 18 rebounds, and nine assists. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Hickory still be able to contain Karr? There's only one way to find out.