Basketball Game Preview: Smackover Buckaroos vs. Bearden Bears

Smackover and Bearden are an even 4-4 against one another since December of 2014, but not for long. The Smackover Buckaroos will head out on the road to face off against the Bearden Bears at 2:45 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Smackover has struggled recently with eight losses in a row, while Bearden will arrive with seven straight wins.

Smackover's tournament run continued when they took on Columbia Christian on Thursday. Smackover was beaten by Columbia Christian 62-30.

While Bearden didn't have the best season last year (they finished 3-14), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They came out on top against Strong by a score of 71-63 on Tuesday.

Bearden pushed their record up to 8-5 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.0 points per game. As for Smackover, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-9.

Smackover lost to Bearden on the road by a decisive 61-47 margin in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Can Smackover avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.