Basketball Game Preview: McGraw Eagles vs. Cortland Purple Tigers

The McGraw Eagles will wrap up 2024 with a road trip to face off against the Cortland Purple Tigers at 6:45 p.m. on Friday. McGraw has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with five straight losses, while Cortland will come in with three straight victories.

Last Thursday, McGraw came up short against Otselic Valley and fell 59-48.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Cortland beat Skaneateles 61-55 on Friday.

Cortland's win came from a few key players McGraw will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Owen Johnson, who posted 14 points and seven rebounds. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Zach Muir, who went 5 of 10 on his way to 13 points.

Cortland's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 3-2. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.3 points per game. As for McGraw, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-3.

McGraw suffered a grim 59-36 defeat to Cortland when the teams last played back in March of 2021. Thankfully for McGraw, Noah Armstrong (who went 9 of 19 on his way to 22 points and four steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.