Basketball Game Preview: Barnesville Trojans vs. Staples-Motley Cardinals

The Barnesville Trojans will head out on the road to take on the Staples-Motley Cardinals at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Barnesville knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past five games -- so hopefully Staples-Motley likes a good challenge.

Last Friday, Barnesville greeted the New Year with with a 67-49 win over Perham. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Trojans' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 196th, while the Yellowjackets are ranked 29th).

Meanwhile, Staples-Motley was just a bucket shy of victory on Friday and fell 53-52 to Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton. The Cardinals have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Barnesville's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-5. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.0 points per game. As for Staples-Motley, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-3.

Barnesville was able to grind out a solid victory over Staples-Motley when the teams last played back in March of 2018, winning 67-57. Will Barnesville repeat their success, or does Staples-Motley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.