Basketball Game Preview: Center Roughriders vs. Rusk Eagles

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Previous Games

01/14/25 - Away	86-52 W
02/11/22 - Home	63-60 W
01/25/22 - Away	75-67 W
02/09/21 - Away	46-34 W
01/22/21 - Home	60-47 W
+ 5 more games

Center is 10-0 against Rusk since January of 2017 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Center Roughriders will be playing at home against the Rusk Eagles at 7:30 p.m. One thing working in Center's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last six matchups.

Center is likely headed into the game with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Bullard on Tuesday. Center took a 68-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of Bullard.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was JaKevin(Tiki) Robinson, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 boards. He has become a key player for Center: the team is 10-3 when he posts at least ten rebounds, but 4-5 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Jimmarion (JA) Smith, who posted six points and 15 boards.

Even though they lost, Center smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 12 consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Rusk was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their eighth straight loss. They lost to Madisonville on the road by a 71-52 margin. While losing is never fun, the Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 739th, while the Mustangs are ranked 281st).

Center's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-8. As for Rusk, they now have a losing record at 12-13.

Everything came up roses for Center against Rusk in their previous matchup on January 14th, as the squad secured an 86-52 victory. In that matchup, Center amassed a halftime lead of 52-23, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.