Basketball Game Preview: Merced Bears vs. Atwater Falcons

The Merced Bears will square off against the Atwater Falcons at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Merced has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

Merced is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their contest on Friday with ease, bagging a 93-45 win over Buhach Colony. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 246th, while the Thunder are ranked 737th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Atwater, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Wednesday. They came out on top against El Capitan by a score of 60-50 on Friday. The score was all tied up 23-23 at the break, but the Falcons were the better team in the second half.

Merced has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a massive bump to their 17-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.0 points over those games. As for Atwater, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-5.

Merced strolled past Atwater in their previous meeting back in January by a score of 55-37. The rematch might be a little tougher for Merced since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.