Basketball Game Preview: Bertie Falcons vs. Martin County Gators

Having just played yesterday, the Bertie Falcons will get right back to it and host the Martin County Gators at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Bertie took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Monday. They blew past Perquimans, posting an 80-49 victory. The Falcons have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 31 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Martin County had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19 points) and they went ahead and made it three last Friday. They slipped by the Pirates 54-53. Given the Gators' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 198th, while the Pirates are ranked 587th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Martin County's win came from a few key players Bertie will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jordan Matthewson, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 14 boards. The contest was his third in a row with at least ten points. Kamarion Larry was another key player, putting up 17 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

Martin County was working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Perquimans only posted five assists.

Martin County is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.4 points per game. As for Bertie, their win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-7.

Bertie came up short against Martin County when the teams last played on January 7th, falling 77-70. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Matthewson, who dropped a double-double on 31 points and 20 boards. Now that Bertie knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.