Basketball Game Preview: Troup Tigers vs. Gladewater Bears

The Troup Tigers will challenge the Gladewater Bears at 6:15 p.m. on Friday. Troup's defense has only allowed 29.3 points per game this season, so Gladewater's offense will have their work cut out for them.

Gladewater will be up against a hot Troup team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Troup walked away with a 42-32 win over Arp on Tuesday. Given Troup's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 492nd, while Arp is ranked 1197th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Gladewater). They came out on top in a nail-biter against West Rusk on Tuesday, sneaking past 54-51. That's two games straight that the Bears have won by exactly three points.

Troup has been performing well recently as they've won 15 of their last 18 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 21-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.5 points per game. As for Gladewater, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 8-12.

Troup didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Gladewater in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, but they still walked away with a 26-21 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Troup since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.