Basketball Game Preview: Columbus International Lions vs. East Tigers

Columbus International is 1-9 against East since December of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Columbus International Lions duke it out with the East Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.

Columbus International is headed into Friday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their 24th straight game dating back to last season on Friday. They were dealt a 73-14 loss at the hands of Northland. The Lions were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 51-7.

Meanwhile, East came up short against Northwest on Saturday and fell 73-61. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 431st, while the Indians are ranked 151st).

Columbus International will need focus on slowing down Daeshawn Fiore, one of several East players who made an impact when they last played. He posted 21 points. The game was Fiore's tenth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Aaron Britford, who scored 16 points.

Columbus International's defeat dropped their record down to 0-10. As for East, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-4.

Columbus International was dealt a bruising 63-24 loss at the hands of East when the teams last played back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Fiore, who had 25 points. Now that Columbus International knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.