Basketball Game Preview: West Florida Jaguars vs. Pace Patriots

The West Florida Jaguars will venture away from home to take on the Pace Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. West Florida is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52.7 points per game this season.

Last Saturday, West Florida was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 60-56 to Fort Walton Beach. The defeat continues a trend for the Jaguars in their matchups with the Vikings: they've now lost five in a row.

Despite the loss, West Florida got top-tier performance from Brayden Justice, who went 7 of 10 en route to 20 points. Justice has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Cosme Perez IV, who posted seven points and eight boards.

Even though they lost, West Florida smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in five consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Pace was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They were dealt a 66-35 loss at the hands of Milton. While losing is never fun, the Patriots can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 583rd, while the Panthers are ranked 102nd).

West Florida's defeat dropped their record down to 8-11. As for Pace, their loss dropped their record down to 2-17.

West Florida was able to grind out a solid win over Pace when the teams last played back in December of 2024, winning 58-45. The rematch might be a little tougher for West Florida since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.