Preview: New Bern Bears vs. Northside - Jacksonville Monarchs
New Bern has been on the road for five straight, but on Monday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Northside - Jacksonville Monarchs at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
New Bern posted their closest victory yet this season on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 55-53 win over D.H. Conley. Given New Bern's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 172nd, while D.H. Conley is ranked 345th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jussan Wiggins was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. That's the first time this season that he scored 15 or more points. Xavier Cox was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with eight rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, Northside - Jacksonville's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fourth straight loss. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 64-63 to Havelock.
New Bern has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. As for Northside - Jacksonville, their loss was their fifth straight at home, which bumped their record down to 1-14.
New Bern didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Northside - Jacksonville in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, but they still walked away with a 58-54 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Northside - Jacksonville's Michael Tate, who scored 26 points along with seven rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Monday, will it be that much easier for New Bern to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
