The Truman Patriots will face off against the Belton Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Truman will be strutting in after a win while Belton will be coming in after a loss.
Truman took a loss when they played away from home last Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They pulled ahead with a 64-63 photo finish over Smithville. Given the Patriots' advantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 111th, while the Warriors are ranked 377th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Belton ended up a good deal behind Raytown on Friday and lost 67-53. The defeat continues a trend for the Pirates in their matchups with the Bluejays: they've now lost three in a row.
Despite the loss, Belton saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Caleb Campbell posted 13 points and eight rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayce Maiden, who scored ten points and seven boards.
Even though they lost, Belton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in three consecutive matchups.
Belton's defeat dropped their record down to 7-12. As for Truman, their victory bumped their record up to 12-9.
Truman didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Belton in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, but they still walked away with a 56-52 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Truman since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
