Basketball Game Preview: DeKalb Barbs vs. East St. Louis Flyers

The DeKalb Barbs will take on the East St. Louis Flyers at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. DeKalb is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last three games.

Last Saturday, DeKalb was able to grind out a solid victory over St. Francis, taking the game 48-35. Given the Barbs' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 77th, while the Spartans are ranked 247th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, East St. Louis didn't have too much trouble with Belleville East on Tuesday as they won 63-45. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Flyers.

East St. Louis' win came from a few key players DeKalb will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Alex Johnson, who went 9 for 17 en route to 25 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. He has been hot recently, having posted three or more steals the last four times he's played. Ishaia Brown was another key player, putting up two points in addition to 24 boards and three steals.

East St. Louis smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in eight consecutive contests.

DeKalb has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.2 points per game. As for East St. Louis, they pushed their record up to 8-10 with the win, which was their third straight at home.