Basketball Game Preview: Lakeland Thunderbirds vs. Newman Fighting Cardinals

The Lakeland Thunderbirds will challenge the Newman Fighting Cardinals at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Lakeland will be strutting in after a victory while Newman will be coming in after a loss.

Lakeland will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating Shawano Community, who they had gone 0-3 against in their three prior meetings. Lakeland escaped with a win on Tuesday against Shawano Community by the margin of a single free throw, 47-46.

Meanwhile, Newman was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They fell 65-57 to Prentice.

Lakeland's win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 9-13-1. As for Newman, their loss dropped their record down to 2-17.

Things could have been worse for Lakeland, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 66-48 loss to Newman when the teams last played back in January of 2021. Can Lakeland avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.