Basketball Game Preview: Taylor Yellowjackets vs. Madeira MUSTANGS/AMAZONS

The Taylor Yellowjackets are taking a road trip to square off against the Madeira MUSTANGS/AMAZONS at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.

Taylor will bounce into Thursday's match after beating Ross, who they had gone 1-7 against in their eight prior meetings. Taylor narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Ross 50-47. Given the Yellowjackets' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 136th, while the Rams are ranked 297th), the result on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Madeira came tearing into Tuesday's contest with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11.6 points) and they left with even more momentum. They skirted past the G-Men 48-46.

Madeira's win came from a few key players Taylor will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ben Reed, who went 7 for 11 on his way to 17 points and six rebounds. He has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Eli Beck was another key player, going 6 of 10 en route to 15 points and three steals.

Taylor pushed their record up to 14-5 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.1 points per game. As for Madeira, they have been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-6 record this season.

Taylor skirted past Madeira 54-51 in their previous meeting back in January. The rematch might be a little tougher for Taylor since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.