Preview: Nova Titans vs. Central Rockets
The Nova Titans will be home for the holidays to greet the Central Rockets at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Nova's and McArthur's game on Thursday was close at halftime, but Nova turned on the heat in the second half with 28 points. Nova was the clear victor by a 45-22 margin over McArthur. The victory was just what Nova needed coming off of a 68-33 loss in their prior game.
Nova's success was spearheaded by the efforts of J'Yan Tyrell, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 18 rebounds, and Imony Housey, who scored 13 points along with eight rebounds. That's the first time this season that Housey pulled down eight or more rebounds. Nayeli Firmin was another key contributor, scoring ten points.
Meanwhile, Central had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 53.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Wednesday. They blew past Miami Beach 68-14 on the road. 68 seems to be a good number for Central as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Nova's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.0 points per game. As for Central, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 4-3 record this season.
Nova was able to grind out a solid victory over Central in their previous meeting back in January of 2022, winning 54-44. Will Nova repeat their success, or does Central have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
