Basketball Game Preview: Patterson Tigers vs. Bear Creek Bruins

The Patterson Tigers will head out to challenge the Bear Creek Bruins at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Patterson will be strutting in after a victory while Bear Creek will be coming in after a defeat.

Patterson took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Pitman 47-45. While the Tigers didn't have the best season last year (they finished 11-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, Bear Creek came up short against East Union on Tuesday and fell 70-60. While losing is never fun, the Bruins can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 774th, while the Lancers are ranked 150th).

Patterson will have to keep a close watch on Jarren Moss and Joell Chet, a pair of players who had a big impact on Bear Creek's prior game. Moss posted 15 points, while Chet earned 15 points. Another player making a difference was Marshawn Dixon, who had eight points.

This is the second loss in a row for Bear Creek and nudges their season record down to 2-6. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.0 points over those games. As for Patterson, their victory bumped their record up to 6-3.