The Merced Bears will head out to square off against the Los Banos Tigers at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
Merced is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering El Capitan just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell 56-46 to the Gauchos.
Meanwhile, Los Banos ended up a good deal behind Atwater on Wednesday and lost 64-46. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 465th, while the Falcons are ranked 93rd).
Los Banos' defeat dropped their record down to 13-3. As for Merced, their loss dropped their record down to 11-8.
Everything came up roses for Merced against Los Banos in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, as the team secured a 58-25 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Merced since the squad 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
