Basketball Game Preview: Lakeside Rams vs. Pine Bluff Zebras

Lakeside has gone 6-0 against Pine Bluff recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Lakeside Rams are taking a road trip to square off against the Pine Bluff Zebras at 6:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Lakeside has five straight victories, Pine Bluff has 41 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Tuesday, Lakeside blew past Hot Springs, posting a 60-19 win. With that victory, the Rams brought their scoring average up to 50.1 points per game.

Lakeside's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Payton Futch, who almost dropped a double-double on 18 points and nine rebounds, and Mckenzie Williams, who posted 13 points along with five assists and five boards. Futch is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 17 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Aniyah Humphrey, who had eight points.

They weren't the only one working in the assists department: Lakeside was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since the start of last season.

Meanwhile, Pine Bluff had to suffer through a 51-21 loss at the hands of El Dorado.

Lakeside has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 16-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.2 points per game. As for Pine Bluff, their loss dropped their record down to 0-23.

Everything came up roses for Lakeside against Pine Bluff in their previous matchup back in January, as the team secured a 56-23 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lakeside since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.