Basketball Game Preview: North Lincoln Knights vs. East Lincoln Mustangs

The North Lincoln Knights will take on the East Lincoln Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. North Lincoln knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 21 matches -- so hopefully East Lincoln likes a good challenge.

On Tuesday, North Lincoln strolled past West Iredell with points to spare, taking the game 87-71. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 87th, while the Warriors are ranked 322nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Kellen Karr

Rebounds

02/11/25 @ West Iredell	15
02/07/25 @ Foard	10
02/04/25 vs St. Stephens	18
01/31/25 vs North Iredell	10
01/28/25 vs Hickory	14
+ 18 more games

North Lincoln had a senior duo take command as Kellen Karr dropped a double-double with 18 points and 15 boards and Ty Sanders went 9 for 14 on his way to 26 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. Karr has been hot for a while, having posted nine or more boards the last 23 times he's played. Another player making a difference was Ben Heavner, who went 6 of 12 en route to 14 points and seven rebounds.

North Lincoln was working as a unit and finished the game with 25 assists. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now posted at least 21 assists in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, East Lincoln waltzed into their game on Tuesday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past the Raiders 61-58. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Mustangs have posted against the Raiders since January 14, 2022.

North Lincoln has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 15 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 80.1 points over those games. As for East Lincoln, their win bumped their record up to 17-6.

North Lincoln took their victory against East Lincoln when the teams last played back in January by a conclusive 71-49. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was East Lincoln's Grant Lawless, who went 9 for 12 to rack up 20 points and seven boards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will North Lincoln still be able to contain Lawless? There's only one way to find out.