Basketball Game Preview: Abilene Christian Panthers vs. Pantego Christian Panthers

The Abilene Christian Panthers will take on the Pantego Christian Panthers in a holiday battle at at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Monday, Abilene Christian beat Wichita Christian 78-68.

Meanwhile, everything went Pantego Christian's way against Summit International Prep on Tuesday as Pantego Christian made off with a 60-39 win. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 44-21.

Pantego Christian's win came from a few key players Abilene Christian will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Aj Brooks, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 14 points along with seven boards and seven steals. He has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last eight times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristan Brown, who almost dropped a double-double on 12 points and nine boards.

Pantego Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in 11 consecutive matches.

Pantego Christian is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.6 points per game. As for Abilene Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 13-4.

Abilene Christian strolled past Pantego Christian when the teams last played back in November by a score of 53-38. Does Abilene Christian have another victory up their sleeve, or will Pantego Christian turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.