Basketball Game Preview: First Flight Nighthawks vs. Northeastern Eagles

First Flight and Northeastern are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2022, but not for long. Both will face off at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday without much rest having both just played. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Northeastern will be up against a hot First Flight squad: the team just extended their winning streak to five. First Flight took their contest on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 71-33 victory over Hertford County. Given the Nighthawks' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 122nd, while the Bears are ranked 338th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Northeastern came tearing into Tuesday's matchup with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13.2 points) and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victor by a 58-34 margin over the Bruins.

Northeastern's win came from a few key players First Flight will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Eleck Sutton, who posted 13 points and eight rebounds. He has been hot, having posted eight or more boards the last five times he's played. Unique Blount was another key player, putting up ten points and three steals.

Northeastern smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in five consecutive games.

Northeastern's win bumped their record up to 14-2. As for First Flight, they are also on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-7 record this season.

First Flight skirted past Northeastern 54-52 in their previous matchup back in January. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Northeastern's Tyell Saunders, who scored 24 points along with six rebounds and five steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will First Flight still be able to contain Saunders? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.