Basketball Game Preview: Artesia Bulldogs vs. Portales Rams

The Artesia Bulldogs will head out on the road to face off against the Portales Rams at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Artesia has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with three straight defeats, while Portales will come in with five straight victories.

Artesia is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Lovington on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Artesia came up short against Lovington, falling 62-41.

Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Portales over Goddard in every quarter on their way to victory on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Portales blew Goddard out of the water with a 58-28 final score. The Rams have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 games by 20 points or more this season.

Portales pushed their record up to 14-9 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.3 points over those games. As for Artesia, their loss dropped their record down to 9-14.

Artesia suffered a grim 57-32 defeat to Portales in their previous matchup last Tuesday. Can Artesia avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.