Basketball Game Preview: Nucla Mustangs vs. De Beque Dragons

The Nucla Mustangs will take on the De Beque Dragons at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Nucla is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.2 points per game this season.

Nucla is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Ouray: they outscored them in every quarter. Nucla took down Ouray 51-36 on Thursday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Mustangs.

Brycen Rummel continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 24 points and 14 boards. He is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last 28 games he's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Slade Gillen, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 12 rebounds.

Nucla smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in six consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, De Beque won against Vail Mountain on Friday with 53 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Saturday. De Beque put the hurt on North Park with a sharp 53-31 victory. The Dragons have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 22 points or more this season.

Nucla's win was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-3. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.7 points per game. As for De Beque, their victory bumped their record up to 8-4.

Nucla won a matchup that couldn't have been any closer in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, slipping by De Beque 54-53. Does Nucla have another victory up their sleeve, or will De Beque turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.