Basketball Game Preview: Austin Black Bears vs. Columbia Eagles

The Austin Black Bears will head out to challenge the Columbia Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Austin has three straight victories, Columbia has eight straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Austin is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alabama's top teams: Florence, who was ranked tenth at the time (Austin was ranked 11th). Austin enjoyed a cozy 75-60 win over Florence on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Columbia ended up a good deal behind Madison Academy on Tuesday and lost 66-50. That's two games in a row now that the Eagles have lost by exactly 16 points.

Austin pushed their record up to 16-6 with the victory, which was their eighth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.1 points per game. As for Columbia, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-16.

Austin strolled past Columbia in their previous meeting two weeks ago by a score of 68-51. Does Austin have another victory up their sleeve, or will Columbia turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.