Basketball Game Preview: St. Pauls Bulldogs vs. Lumberton Pirates

The St. Pauls Bulldogs will head out on the road to square off against the Lumberton Pirates at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Lumberton is hoping to do what Red Springs couldn't on Tuesday: put an end to St. Pauls' winning streak, which now stands at five games. St. Pauls claimed a resounding 56-22 win over Red Springs. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 32-4.

Zhari Shipman and Alyssa Monroe were among the main playmakers for St. Pauls as the former went 6 for 15 on her way to 19 points in addition to five boards and four steals and the latter posted 15 points along with seven steals and five boards. Shipman is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last nine games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashley Morris, who put up seven points and eight rebounds.

St. Pauls smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Lumberton). They took their game on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 72-29 victory over Whiteville. While the Pirates didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

St. Pauls pushed their record up to 9-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.0 points per game. As for Lumberton, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season.

St. Pauls didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Lumberton in their previous matchup back in January, but they still walked away with a 55-50 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Pauls since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.