Basketball Game Preview: Orem Tigers vs. Cedar Valley Aviators

The Orem Tigers are taking a road trip to face off against the Cedar Valley Aviators at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Orem's upcoming contest probably won't be as stressful as their last, when they took on another nationally ranked opponent: St. Michael's, who was ranked 46th at the time (Orem was ranked 49th). Orem fell 75-62 to St. Michael's last Monday. The Tigers have been going strong on the season, but this is now their second defeat in a row.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Cedar Valley). They walked away with a 72-62 win over Mountain Ridge on Tuesday.

Orem better keep an eye on Owen Bawden. He was instrumental in Cedar Valley's win, dropping a double-double on 17 points and ten boards. The dominant performance also gave Bawden a new career-high in assists (five). James Milligan was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds.

Cedar Valley was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mountain Ridge only racked up ten assists.

Cedar Valley is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.7 points per game. As for Orem, their loss dropped their record down to 10-3.

Orem strolled past Cedar Valley in their previous matchup back in February of 2024 by a score of 71-54. Will Orem repeat their success, or does Cedar Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.