Basketball Game Preview: Downtown Magnets Suns vs. Banning Pilots

After both having extra time off, the Downtown Magnets Suns and the Banning Pilots will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Downtown Magnets will head into Saturday's matchup hoping to keep the good times rolling: they proved they can win big on December 12th (they won by 59) and last Saturday they proved they can win the close ones too. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Animo Robinson 58-55. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Suns have posted since November 20th.

Downtown Magnets' win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Justin Huang, who posted 19 points. Huang has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Angel Orozco was another key player, going 5 for 8 on his way to 14 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

Meanwhile, Banning posted their biggest victory since November 17, 2023 last Thursday. They breezed by Locke to the tune of 57-25. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Pilots as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.

Downtown Magnets is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.6 points per game. As for Banning, the victory got them back to even at 7-7.

Downtown Magnets came up short against Banning when the teams last played back in February, falling 61-57. Can Downtown Magnets avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.