Basketball Game Preview: Bryant Hornets vs. Bentonville Tigers

The Bryant Hornets will take on the Bentonville Tigers in a holiday battle at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Bryant knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 11 games -- so hopefully Bentonville likes a good challenge.

Bryant took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They walked away with a 61-53 victory over Springdale. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Hornets' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Arkansas basketball rankings (they are ranked second, while the Bulldogs are ranked 62nd).

Rj Young

Points

12/16/25 vs Springdale	16
12/13/25 vs Marion	23
12/12/25 vs Benton	30
12/06/25 vs Little Rock Christian Academy	26
12/05/25 vs Millwood	33

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Bryant to victory, but perhaps none more so than Rj Young, who went 6-for-14 on his way to 16 points and six rebounds. Young's evening made it five games in a row in which he has scored at least 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Camarion Bead, who shot 42% from the field to rack up 13 points in addition to seven boards and five assists.

Bryant smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 23 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Bentonville came up short against Nixa on Tuesday and fell 80-67. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Saturday (63), the Tigers still had to take the loss.

Bentonville now has a losing record of 2-3. As for Bryant, their win bumped their record up to 10-1.

Bryant took their victory against Bentonville in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 81-60 score. Do the Hornets have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Tigers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.