Basketball Game Preview: Ben Lippen Falcons vs. Cardinal Newman Cardinals

Ben Lippen is 0-10 against Cardinal Newman since February of 2019 but things could change on Tuesday. The Ben Lippen Falcons will face off against the Cardinal Newman Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. One thing working in Ben Lippen's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 11 matchups.

If Cardinal Newman heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Ben Lippen took over last week. Ben Lippen snuck past Porter-Gaud with a 64-58 win on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Newman strolled past Westminster Catawba Christian with points to spare on Monday, taking the game 63-49. Given the Cardinals' advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 38th, while the Indians are ranked 260th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Ben Lippen better focus on containing Elton Smith Jr. and Jason Rogers Jr as the pair were huge in Cardinal Newman's win. Smith Jr. dropped a double-double on 21 points and 14 boards, while Rogers Jr went 6 of 10 on his way to 15 points and six assists. Smith Jr. has been hot for a while, having posted ten or more boards the last 13 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Desmond Harrington, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and ten boards.

Ben Lippen pushed their record up to 13-1 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.6 points per game. As for Cardinal Newman, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season.

Ben Lippen came up short against Cardinal Newman when the teams last played back in February of 2024, falling 59-47. Thankfully for Ben Lippen, Josiah Peeples (who went 8 of 12 on his way to 21 points and seven rebounds) 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.