Basketball Game Preview: Sparta Spartans vs. Cedar Springs Red Hawks

Sparta is 2-7 against Cedar Springs since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Sparta Spartans will take on the Cedar Springs Red Hawks at 7:00 p.m.

Sparta is headed into Thursday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their 20th straight game dating back to last season on Friday. They fell 43-30 to Greenville. While losing is never fun, the Spartans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Michigan basketball rankings (they are ranked 556th, while the Yellow Jackets are ranked 124th).

Meanwhile, Cedar Springs entered their tilt with Greenville on Tuesday with eight consecutive wins , and they'll enter their next game with nine. They came within six points of losing the streak, but they secured a 63-57 W against the Yellow Jackets. That's two games straight that the Red Hawks have won by exactly six points.

Sparta's loss dropped their record down to 0-19. As for Cedar Springs, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-4.

Sparta was taken down by Cedar Springs 57-20 in their previous matchup back in January. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Sparta was down 36-8.