Basketball Game Preview: Merced Bears vs. Golden Valley Cougars

The Merced Bears will take on the Golden Valley Cougars at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.

Merced is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Atwater on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Merced took a blow against Atwater, falling 57-26. The Bears were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 33-11.

Meanwhile, Golden Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They were dealt a 55-19 loss at the hands of El Capitan. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 895th, while the Gauchos are ranked 115th).

Golden Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 7-19. As for Merced, their loss dropped their record down to 15-11.

Merced was able to grind out a solid win over Golden Valley in their previous meeting back in January, winning 66-55. Will Merced repeat their success, or does Golden Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.