Basketball Game Preview: Union Pines Vikings vs. Hoke County Bucks

The Union Pines Vikings will head out on the road to take on the Hoke County Bucks at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Union Pines is coming into the match on a three-game losing streak.

On Wednesday, Union Pines was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 54-53 to Lee County.

Meanwhile, Hoke County was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 56-47 hit to the loss column at the hands of Southern Lee. While losing is never fun, the Bucks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 341st, while the Cavaliers are ranked 54th).

Hoke County's defeat dropped their record down to 7-13. As for Union Pines, their loss dropped their record down to 12-9.

Union Pines didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Hoke County when the teams last played back in January, but they still walked away with a 67-61 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Union Pines since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.