Basketball Game Preview: Columbia Eagles vs. O'Fallon Panthers

The Columbia Eagles will venture away from home to take on the O'Fallon Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Columbia will be looking to extend their current nine-game winning streak.

Last Saturday, Columbia beat Belleville West 59-47.

Sam Donald continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, putting up 24 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Micah James, who posted 11 points.

Meanwhile, O'Fallon came up short against Alton on Tuesday and fell 46-39. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 215th, while the Redbirds are ranked 29th).

Columbia's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-4. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.0 points per game. As for O'Fallon, they have been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-17 record this season.