Basketball Game Preview: Lincoln Lions vs. Saratoga Falcons

Lincoln hasn't had much luck against Saratoga recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Lincoln Lions will head out to square off against the Saratoga Falcons at 3:00 p.m. Lincoln has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.

Lincoln is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing James Lick: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Lincoln blew James Lick out of the water with a 68-29 final score. The Lions pushed the score to 60-24 by the end of the third, a deficit the Comets had no chance of recovering from.

Lincoln can attribute much of their success to Joseph Shelton, who posted 26 points and five rebounds, and Noah MacKenzie, who had eight points along with eight boards and five assists. The game was Shelton's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaden Peters, who posted four points in addition to six boards and five assists.

Meanwhile, Saratoga was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They received a blow as they fell 66-52 to San Luis Obispo. While losing is never fun, the Falcons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 452nd, while the Tigers are ranked 96th).

Lincoln's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-4. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.3 points per game. As for Saratoga, their loss dropped their record down to 3-5.

Lincoln came up short against Saratoga in their previous matchup on December 4th, falling 59-46. Can Lincoln avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.