Basketball Game Preview: Lamar Thunder vs. La Junta Tigers

Lamar and La Junta are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2018, but not for long. The Lamar Thunder will be playing in front of their home fans against the La Junta Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Lamar is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.5 points per game this season.

Back in December of 2024, Lamar earned a 52-39 win over Buena Vista. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Thunder.

Lamar's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jacob Dunning led the charge by going 7 of 16 on his way to 18 points and three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Dunning has scored at least a third of Lamar's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Diego Estrada, who went 5 of 8 on his way to 13 points.

Meanwhile, La Junta was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They came up short against Village, falling 54-31. The match marked the Tigers' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

La Junta's loss dropped their record down to 3-6. As for Lamar, their victory bumped their record up to 6-2.

Lamar strolled past La Junta in their previous meeting back in January of 2024 by a score of 48-31. Will Lamar repeat their success, or does La Junta have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.