Basketball Game Preview: Tanner Rattlers vs. Lexington Golden Bears

The Tanner Rattlers will square off against the Lexington Golden Bears at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Tanner is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.6 points per game this season.

Tanner is headed into Saturday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Tuesday. They fell 61-54 to Elkmont.

Tanner's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Kaden Freeman, who went 8 for 12 on his way to 19 points and three steals, and Matthew Fletcher, who went 5 of 11 en route to 12 points in addition to eight assists and six rebounds. Those 19 points gave Freeman a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Elyjah Jones, who went 5 for 9 en route to 10 points.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Lexington). They claimed a resounding 81-40 win over Shoals Christian. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team's high-flying offense, the game also marked the team's biggest victory of the season.

Tanner now has a losing record at 12-13. As for Lexington, their win bumped their record up to 10-11.

Tanner lost to Lexington on the road by a decisive 66-47 margin in their previous matchup on January 7th. Can Tanner avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.