Basketball Game Preview: Capital Jaguars vs. Sandia Matadors

The Capital Jaguars will head out to square off against the Sandia Matadors at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Capital will head into Tuesday's match out to bounce back: they won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Tuesday. They were outmatched by Santa Fe and fell 62-35. The Jaguars haven't had much luck with the Demons recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.

Meanwhile, Sandia earned a 74-67 victory over Albuquerque Academy on Friday. Given the Matadors' advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked third, while the Chargers are ranked 28th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Capital better keep an eye on Zaire Ndyabagye. He was instrumental in Sandia's win, going 7 of 12 on his way to 21 points and four steals. That's the most points Ndyabagye has posted since back in November of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Isaiah Brown, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine assists.

Sandia pushed their record up to 14-2 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 77.3 points per game. As for Capital, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-10.

Everything went Capital's way against Sandia when the teams last played back in February of 2020, as Capital made off with a 65-42 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Capital since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.