Basketball Game Preview: Pershing County Mustangs vs. Battle Mountain Longhorns

Pershing County is 2-8 against Battle Mountain since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Pershing County Mustangs will head out to challenge the Battle Mountain Longhorns at 7:30 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Saturday, Pershing County was fully in charge, breezing past Silver Stage 67-25. The Mustangs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 23 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Battle Mountain had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 20.7 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Saturday. They took down the Lions 52-37.

Battle Mountain's win came from a few key players Pershing County will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Adan Nevarez, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 boards. He also grabbed five steals, which is notable because Battle Mountain is 7-1 when he posts at least five steals, but 3-4 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Geovanni Ruvalcaba, who posted 16 points.

Battle Mountain was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Yerington only racked up six assists.

Battle Mountain's victory was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-5. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.0 points per game. As for Pershing County, their record now sits at 8-10.

Pershing County came up short against Battle Mountain when the teams last played back in December of 2024, falling 54-50. Can Pershing County avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.