Basketball Game Preview: Berkley Bears vs. Lamphere Rams

The Berkley Bears will venture away from home to square off against the Lamphere Rams at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Berkley is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.

On Friday, Berkley was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 60-54 to Rochester. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Michigan basketball rankings (they are ranked 551st, while the Falcons are ranked 220th).

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Jacob Friedman, who went 7 of 11 en route to 15 points along with six boards and five blocks. Those 15 points gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Drew Sermo, who went 5 of 11 on his way to 13 points in addition to five assists and five steals.

While Lamphere didn't have the best season last year (they finished 10-13), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. In a tight match that could have gone either way, they made off with a 52-51 win over Sterling Heights. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Rams.

Lamphere's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-3. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.0 points per game. As for Berkley, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-7.