Basketball Game Preview: Hunter Wolverines vs. Cyprus Pirates

Hunter is 2-8 against Cyprus since February of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Hunter Wolverines will be playing at home against the Cyprus Pirates at 7:00 p.m. That contest will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Dominick Phanolath and Koli Fosita.

Hunter is headed into Tuesday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Friday. They came up short against Juan Diego Catholic, falling 67-46. While losing is never fun, the Wolverines can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while the Soaring Eagle are ranked 32nd).

Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Cyprus against Granger on Friday as the squad secured an 81-44 victory. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 45-14.

Cyprus' win came from a few key players Hunter will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Paden Sharp, who went 7 for 13 from beyond the arc to rack up 21 points. Those 21 points gave him a new career-high. Fosita was another key player, going 7 of 13 on his way to 17 points.

Cyprus smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've managed all season.

Cyprus pushed their record up to 13-8 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to offensive rebounds: they averaged an imposing 12.33 offensive boards in those games compared to only 12.33 in the others. As for Hunter, their loss dropped their record down to 6-15.

Hunter ended up a good deal behind Cyprus in their previous meeting back in January, losing 75-61. Will Hunter have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.