Basketball Game Preview: La Salle Lancers vs. Elder Panthers

La Salle hasn't had much luck against Elder recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The La Salle Lancers will be playing at home against the Elder Panthers at 7:30 p.m. La Salle is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.2 points per game this season.

La Salle will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up 30 points on Monday, then bounced right back against Archbishop McNicholas on Tuesday. La Salle enjoyed a cozy 74-55 win over Archbishop McNicholas. Given the Lancers' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 119th, while the Rockets are ranked 357th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Drae Arnold continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 9 of 10 on his way to 30 points and five boards. He has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Patrick Mclaughlin, who posted 18 points along with six rebounds and four steals.

Meanwhile, Elder came tearing into Tuesday's contest with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They managed a 53-47 victory over the Fighting Crusaders.

Elder's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-2. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.8 points per game. As for La Salle, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season.

La Salle lost to Elder at home by a decisive 65-47 margin in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. Will La Salle have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.