Basketball Game Preview: Belmont Bison vs. Tri-Village Patriots

The Belmont Bison will challenge the Tri-Village Patriots at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday.

Last Saturday, Belmont came up short against Franklin Monroe and fell 42-33. While losing is never fun, the Bison can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 705th, while the Jets are ranked 155th).

Despite their loss, Belmont saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Jason Maddickes, who posted 12 points and three steals, was perhaps the best of all. Maddickes is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed three or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Dayvion Porter, who had eight points.

Meanwhile, Tri-Village came tearing into Friday's matchup with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 40.1 points) and they left with even more momentum. They couldn't have asked for a better start to 2025 than the 84-26 blowout they got against the Tigers. The Patriots have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 27 points or more this season.

Tri-Village pushed their record up to 8-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 84.5 points per game. As for Belmont, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-6.

Belmont didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Tri-Village in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, but they still walked away with a 65-60 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Belmont since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.