Basketball Game Preview: Bedford Bearcats vs. Padua Franciscan Bruins

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Previous 3 Games

12/19/23 - Home	41-30 W
12/13/22 - Away	36-32 W
12/06/19 - Away	64-51 W

Bedford has gone a perfect 3-0 against Padua Franciscan recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Saturday. The Bedford Bearcats will challenge the Padua Franciscan Bruins at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Bedford sitting on five straight victories and Padua Franciscan on six.

Bedford is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 60-58 win over Barberton. Given the Bearcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st in Ohio, while the Magics are ranked 254th in Ohio), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Padua Franciscan hadn't done well against Gilmour Academy recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. Padua Franciscan escaped with a win against Gilmour Academy by the margin of a single free throw, 75-74.

Padua Franciscan's victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-6. As for Bedford, their win bumped their record up to 17-7.

Bedford beat Padua Franciscan 41-30 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bedford since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.