Basketball Game Preview: Rich Rebels vs. Manila Mustangs

Rich is 10-0 against Manila since January of 2020 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The two teams will round out the year against one another at at 4:00 p.m. Rich is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.9 points per game this season.

On Friday, Rich needed a bit of extra time to put away Grace. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Grizzlies 43-40. The win was familiar territory for the Rebels who have now won three matchups in a row.

Rich's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Braylyn Pugmire led the charge by dropping a double-double on 12 points and 20 boards. With that strong performance, Pugmire is now averaging an impressive 9.3 rebounds per game. Another player making a difference was Molly Weston, who posted 15 points in addition to eight rebounds and six steals.

Rich smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in five consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Manila). They simply couldn't be stopped on Saturday as they easily beat Bryce Valley 71-44. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory Manila has posted since February 9th.

Manila is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 4-4 record this season. As for Rich, they pushed their record up to 6-1 with the win, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season.

Rich was able to grind out a solid victory over Manila in their previous matchup back in February, winning 46-34. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rich since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.