Basketball Game Preview: Van Buren Black Knights vs. Liberty-Benton Eagles

Van Buren hasn't had much luck against Liberty-Benton recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Van Buren Black Knights will host the Liberty-Benton Eagles at 7:30 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with five losses in a row, Van Buren turned things around against Arlington two weeks ago. In a tight contest that could have gone either way, they made off with a 49-48 win over the Red Devils.

Meanwhile, Liberty-Benton entered their tilt with Pandora-Gilboa on Monday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They strolled past the Rockets with points to spare, taking the game 51-35. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 181st, while the Rockets are ranked 386th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Liberty-Benton is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for Van Buren, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-6.

Van Buren was dealt a bruising 50-11 defeat at the hands of Liberty-Benton when the teams last played back in February. Will Van Buren have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.