Basketball Preview: Southern Rams vs. Tucker County Mountain Lions
The Southern Rams will be playing at home against the Tucker County Mountain Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the pair posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Tuesday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Southern beat the Fighting Irish 55-50. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Southern.
Jared Haskiell continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, shooting 4-for-6 from deep and almost dropping a double-double on 21 points and nine steals. He is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. Joel Campbell was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with six steals.
Meanwhile, Tucker County came tearing into Tuesday's game with ten straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24.4 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 72-60 win over Pendleton County. Given Tucker County's advantage in MaxPreps' West Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 20th, while the Wildcat are ranked 67th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Tucker County got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ashton Lycliter out in front who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Lycliter has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Owen Knotts, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Southern's win bumped their record up to 9-6. As for Tucker County, their win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-2.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Southern have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Tucker County struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.6 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Southern was dealt a bruising 76-43 loss at the hands of the Mountain Lions when the teams last played on Friday. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Tucker County's Ethan Rosenau, who went 6 for 8 from beyond the arc en route to 24 points and 2 assists. Now that Southern knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
