Preview: Mineral Area Cardinals at Western Texas Westerners

BIG SPRING, Texas (Interstat) — Two junior college men’s basketball teams looking to build momentum will meet Saturday in the Howard College Classic when the Mineral Area Cardinals face the Western Texas Westerners.

Mineral Area (6-4) enters the contest following a 79-89 home loss to Midland on Friday. The Cardinals have dropped two straight, including a 52-80 defeat at Howard (Texas) on Thursday, after a three-game winning streak.

Western Texas (4-5) snapped a two-game skid with an 82-80 victory over Temple on Friday. The Westerners have shown resilience in close games, with three of their four wins coming by five points or fewer.

A key matchup will feature two standout scorers. Mineral Area’s Nassir Binion is coming off a career-high 26-point performance in Friday’s loss, adding six rebounds in 23 minutes. Over his last two games, the guard has averaged 15.5 points.

He will be countered by Western Texas’ Justin McCall, who is averaging 23.0 points over his last two outings. McCall scored 22 points and grabbed five rebounds in Friday’s win over Temple, following a 24-point effort against Lamar on Nov. 21.

For Mineral Area, Nazir Allen (14 points, seven rebounds) and Terron Garrett (17 points) provided support alongside Binion in the loss to Midland. Western Texas received balanced production against Temple, with Zayier Dean adding 13 points and five assists and Anesu Dehwe contributing 15 points and six rebounds.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, this contest projects as a toss-up, with a predicted final score of Western Texas 100, Mineral Area 100.

The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 6, at Dorothy Garrett Coliseum.

Up Next: Mineral Area hosts Indian Hills on Dec. 13. Western Texas travels to face Weatherford on Dec. 9.