Basketball Game Preview: Sports Leadership & Management vs. Hialeah Gardens Gladiators

Two dominant forwards in Ethan Taylor and Eduardo Hernandez are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. Sports Leadership & Management will square off against the Hialeah Gardens Gladiators at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Sports Leadership & Management is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.

On Saturday, Sports Leadership & Management didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Mater Academy Charter, but they still walked away with a 45-40 victory.

Meanwhile, Hialeah Gardens entered their contest against Goleman on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Hialeah Gardens was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 40-39 to Goleman. The Gladiators have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Sports Leadership & Management will need focus on slowing down Hernandez, one of several Hialeah Gardens players who made an impact when they last played. He dropped a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds. Hialeah Gardens is 2-1 when Hernandez posts eight or more boards, but 3-7 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Robert Masis, who posted eight points in addition to 17 rebounds and four blocks.

Even though they lost, Hialeah Gardens smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 26 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 23 consecutive matches dating back to last season.

Sports Leadership & Management pushed their record up to 9-9 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.5 points per game. As for Hialeah Gardens, their defeat ended an eight-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 5-8.

Sports Leadership & Management strolled past Hialeah Gardens in their previous meeting back in December of 2015 by a score of 54-40. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sports Leadership & Management since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.