Basketball Game Preview: Southwestern Rebels vs. Jac-Cen-Del Eagles

Southwestern and Jac-Cen-Del are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2014, but not for long. The Southwestern Rebels will take on the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles in a holiday battle at at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Southwestern's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season.

Last Saturday, Southwestern strolled past Batesville with points to spare, taking the game 56-42.

Braxton Lewis

Points (Career)

12/14/24 @ Batesville	17
02/01/24 vs South Ripley	14
12/01/23 @ Shawe Memorial	13
02/15/24 @ Scottsburg	13
12/08/23 vs New Washington	12

Southwestern's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Landon Kidwell, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 boards, and Braxton Lewis, who went 5 of 11 on his way to 17 points and five rebounds. The dominant performance gave Lewis a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Caleb Goode, who posted six points.

Meanwhile, Jac-Cen-Del had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They took down the Cougars 77-62. The Eagles' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.

Southwestern's victory was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.0 points per game. As for Jac-Cen-Del, they now have a winning record of 3-2.

Southwestern strolled past Jac-Cen-Del when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a score of 65-51. The rematch might be a little tougher for Southwestern since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.