Friday, January 18, 2013
- by B.B. Branton
If you were among the 2,700+ who witnessed last night’s thrilling overtime win ... good for you.
If you weren’t ...
then 1.) you missed one of the great, improbable comebacks in Mocs cage annals …
and 2.) shame on you for not being there … unless you listened to J.R.’s radio broadcast.
What a group of hungry, gritty, determined, young men coach John Shulman has brought together .
..
Down 19 and with no quit in their vocabulary, the Mocs came storming back to beat a talented – very talented - veteran Appalachian State team who had thoughts of sweeping this road trip (at Samford Saturday night) ... and putting some distance between themselves and most of the North Division schools ...
Shulman's kids had something to say about that and now the race is on for the North title ...
actually they are no longer kids nor are five of them freshmen any longer with 18 court battles under their belts ..
Home wins are vital … road wins are precious …
One cannot help but like Tay and Z. and Gee …
Tay (Dontay Hampton) is back (from ACL surgery) just in time to give SoCon foes some fits in his final run at a championship … the young ones – Farad Cobb, Eric Robertson and Gee McGhee – feed off his energy and leadership …
Tay’s 3s had the crowd on its feet and he willed the Mocs to the improbable win ..
Ronrico White is cool as ice at the free line … 9 of 10 last night, including the final six straight … and a hot 39-of-45 in the last 10 games …
The “Z Men” – Z. Mason and Drazen Zlovaric are taking care of business down low, backed by Watson, Bryant and Stokes.
Sat. Night vs. Western Carolina … with no time to dwell on the win, the Mocs turn their attention to Western Carolina (4-2) who lost to Samford Thursday.
Six Straight …?: A win for the Mocs would give them six straight years of sweeping WC and Appalachian State at home.
Milestone Win … lost in all the excitement of the victory was coach John Shulman’s 140th career win to move him (140-137) past Ron Shumate (139-66) into sole possession of second place on UTC’s all-time coaching wins list … Mack McCarthy is first at 243-122
Cheer Them On … So come out and cheer on these student-athletes who are giving it their all and are truly appreciative of the great fan support … and are proud to wear Chattanooga on the front of those home gold jerseys…
…These Mocs are worthy of your support.
... See you Saturday night ... the excitement begins at 7
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net