Basketball Game Preview: Hershey Panthers vs. Bridgeport Bulldogs

The Hershey Panthers will square off against the Bridgeport Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hershey is coming into the matchup on a three-game losing streak.

Last Saturday, Hershey came up short against St. Patrick's and fell 60-53. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 204th, while the Irish are ranked 66th).

Meanwhile, Bridgeport earned a 58-48 win over Kimball on Saturday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bulldogs.

Bridgeport's win came from a few key players Hershey will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Landon Dean, who went 7 for 9 en route to 14 points and eight rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Hayes Watts, who went 6 of 9 on his way to 19 points.

Bridgeport is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 9-7 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.0 points per game. As for Hershey, their loss dropped their record down to 2-12.

Hershey was taken down by Bridgeport 72-29 in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. Thankfully for Hershey, Kolby Lussetto (who went 10 for 18 en route to 26 points in addition to six boards and five assists) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.