The Murray State Racers Men's Basketball Team has played several games since the last time Tracy Ross checked in with "voice of the Racers" Neal Bradley. They won one game by 15 points and lost the other three by very close margins. On Sounds Good, Bradley recaps recent games and looks head at some games that they should win statistically, however, with the loss of Brion Sanchious due to a torn ACL, they'll have to do some strategic positioning.
January 7 vs. Tennessee Tech - 65 to 71 loss
Tennessee Tech is one of the surprise teams in the league, Bradley says, the other being Tennessee State. Tech rolled in with a 10-5 record and a player named Torrance Rowe who kept making free throws. This was a night where Tech hit 34 of 39 free throws. The Racers didn't have a great shooting second half. Bradley says he was wondering how the Racers are "in the game" at the end. Though it was a loss, it wasn't a bad loss, he says.
January 9 vs. Jacksonville State - 69 to 54 win
In this game, Jeffery Moss broke out from his slump. Wayne Langston also played well. Jacksonville State has a lot of newcomers this year. They had a student they were counting on who ended up being kicked off the team. The Racers searched for answers on what they wanted to do offensively, Bradley says. They coasted to victory in this heavily favored match.
January 14 vs. Belmont - 73 to 81 loss
In the first half of this game, the Racers had foul problems. Four starters ended up on the bench. They were down nine points with five minutes to go. Bradley says he commented at the time that the game was about to get out of hand. DeMarcus Croaker, Justin Seymour, A.J. Patty and Chad Culbreath came off the bench and made a bunch of shots. The Racers did well defensively and were only down by one point at halftime. In the second half, they blitzed out of the gate with an eight point lead on a tip from Brion Sanchious. He got tangled up and ended up tearing his ACL. Also, Wayne Langston fouled out of the game. once again, the Racers hit a six or seven minute stretch where they couldn't score and that was their undoing, he says.
January 16 vs. Tennessee State
This team had a couple of key players sitting out and added a few newcomers, including Wayne Martin and Tahjere McCall who ended up making the game-winning point. The Racers had little time to game plan without Brion Sanchious ahead of this game. They couldn't hang on to their lead in the last five minutes. No fluke, Tennessee State is a good team, he says.
Looking Ahead
Note: At the time of this recording, the Racers hadn't yet played Eastern Illinois, which they won, 68 to 58.
The next few games should be wins, Bradley says, as long as Wayne Langston can keep from getting in foul trouble. If that happens, it leaves the Racers with no size and experience. They'll need to make outstanding shots. He expects Matt McMahon will do something to protect Langston as he is the only legit offensive presence at this point.
The big showdown coming up will be against UT Martin on January 30. This is a good team that is rolling along. Bradley says he thought they might not lose until the Racers play them, but they had a head scratching loss at Jacksonville State by 20 points.
