Lincolnton has won nine straight games at home (dating back to last season), while Bandys has won nine straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Tuesday. The Lincolnton Wolves will host the Bandys Trojans at 7:00 p.m. Lincolnton knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 11 matchups -- so hopefully Bandys likes a good challenge.
Lincolnton's tournament run continued when they took on Forestview on Saturday. Lincolnton was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 85-84 to Forestview. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (65), the Wolves still had to take the loss.
Despite the defeat, Lincolnton saw an underclassman step up: sophomore LJ Smith IV went 14 for 35 on his way to 43 points and seven rebounds. That was a full 51.2% of Lincolnton's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tucker Robinette, who went 6 of 12 on his way to 16 points and six assists.
Even though they lost, Lincolnton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Bandys entered their contest against North Lincoln on Saturday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Bandys fell 78-70 to North Lincoln. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (69), the Trojans still had to take the loss.
Lincolnton will have to contain Landon Vaughan as he made an impact in Bandys' last game. He dropped a double-double on 30 points and 11 boards. Vaughan continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Easton Ledford, who put up 17 points.
Bandys' loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-2. As for Lincolnton, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Lincolnton has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 35.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Bandys struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.9 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Lincolnton couldn't quite finish off Bandys when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 65-62. Can Lincolnton avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
