Basketball Game Preview: Pontotoc Warriors vs. New Albany Bulldogs

Pontotoc and New Albany are an even 5-5 against one another since November of 2019, but not for long. The Pontotoc Warriors will venture away from home to challenge the New Albany Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.

Pontotoc will head into Saturday's matchup hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on Friday (they won by 32) and on Saturday they proved they can win the close ones too. They had just enough and edged West Union out 60-57. The win was familiar territory for the Warriors who have now won three contests in a row.

Meanwhile, New Albany waltzed into their game on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 66-64 victory over the Warriors.

Pontotoc better keep an eye on Issac Gilbert. He was instrumental in New Albany's win, dropping a double-double on 15 points and 14 boards. Gilbert continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Amari Hubbard, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 13 points.

New Albany smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in January.

Pontotoc's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-5. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.8 points per game. As for New Albany, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season.

Things could have been worse for Pontotoc, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took an 84-69 loss to New Albany in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Can Pontotoc avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.