The Lincoln North Star Navigators will head out on the road to challenge the Grand Island Islanders at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Lincoln North Star's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five contests.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up ten more assists than your opponent, a fact Lincoln North Star proved on Tuesday. They blew past Lincoln East, posting a 73-46 win at home.
Lincoln North Star got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Jordan Castor out in front who scored 19 points along with three steals. Castor has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last nine times he's played. Lazerek Houston was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with eight rebounds and six assists.
Meanwhile, Grand Island scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They walked away with a 66-53 win over Fremont. The victory was a breath of fresh air for Grand Island as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Grand Island relied on the efforts of Evan McDonald, who scored 17 points along with six rebounds, and Mukadi Mukoma, who scored 25 points along with six rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points McDonald has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Babur Choul, who scored eight points.
Lincoln North Star is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-7 record this season. As for Grand Island, their victory bumped their record up to 7-12.
Thursday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Lincoln North Star have been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 43.3% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Grand Island struggles in that department as they've made 42.9% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lincoln North Star strolled past Grand Island in their previous matchup back in February of 2023 by a score of 64-45. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lincoln North Star since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
