Amherst has enjoyed a five-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will face off against the Bridgeport Bulldogs at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday. One thing working in Amherst's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last six matches.
Last Tuesday, Amherst was able to grind out a solid victory over Mead, taking the game 58-48. Given Amherst's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 21st, while Mead is ranked 108th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Tayje Hadwiger, who shot 4-for-8 from long range and dropped a double-double on 30 points and ten rebounds. He has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last 15 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Braylon Russell, who scored eight points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Bridgeport had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 43 points), and they went ahead and made it three last Saturday. They took down Freeman 42-23.
Bridgeport's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Logan Metz, who scored seven points along with seven rebounds and two blocks. Another player making a difference was Landon Dean, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds.
Amherst pushed their record up to 23-2 with that win, which was their 20th straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.4 points per game. As for Bridgeport, they are on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 15 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 21-5 record this season.
Wednesday's game is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Amherst have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 41.7% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Bridgeport struggles in that department as they've made 44.6% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Amherst strolled past Bridgeport in their previous matchup back in February of 2016 by a score of 58-42. Does Amherst have another victory up their sleeve, or will Bridgeport turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
