It may surprise everyone to know that Tennessee Temple is billing this game as the Battle For Chattanooga. The Mocs are not really doing that, because it seems to put the Crusaders on the same level as the Mocs. In truth, the Crusaders are not a lower level than the Mocs. However, that being said, if the Mocs don't bring their best game, they could be stunned in the Battle For Chattanooga.
The Crusaders are off to a 2-1 start, with a loss to Lee. However, in their most recent outing, they beat an NAIA nationally ranked Tennessee Wesleyan school. They won by five, 71-66. They have some former D1 talent on the roster, including Weedlens Beauvil. He originally went to Stetson. He is averaging 8.7 points per game, and has made nearly 47% from three point range so far this year. Beauvil has potential to score some points on the Mocs.
John Jones is a 6-9 junior forward. He is averaging 8.3 points per game and coming up with 3.7 rebounds per game. He is shooting nearly 65% from the field.Rashaud Bell is 6-8, making him another tough inside match-up. He is averaging nine points per game with a team high 4.7 rebounds per game. These two will be a challenge to the Mocs interior. The Z Men (Drazen Zlovaric and Z Mason) will need to control him. They will also have theirr hands full covering these two.
Corey Sanders, the 5-9 point guard from Brainderd High School, is the Crusaders leading scorer, and has come off the bench. He is averaging 9.3 points per game. He is also leading the team in assists with five assists per game. He is shooting over 50% from the floor.
Joe Quinn is a senior and is averaging four rebounds per game with nine points per game. He is also making 40% from three point range. The other two starters for the Crusaders are Hampton Mack and PJ Whitaker.
The Crusaders have been outrebounding their opponents by 7.7 rebounds per game. They also are coming up with 13.3 assists per game, which is pretty good. They are shooting only 41.5% from the floor for the year, while their opponents are shooting 47.5%. They are making under 30% from three point range, but they are holding their opponents to about 32% shooting from three point range. Their biggest problem may be from the free throw line, where they are shooting just 51.9% from the free throw line.
The Crusaders strenght is their size inside- something that the Mocs actually don't have a ton of. Zlovaric is tall, and Sam Watson is big too. But Z Mason is not overly tall even though he has a big body. The battle inside could be interesting to see what happens. The young players on the perimeter (Farad Cobb, Gee McGhee, Eric Robertson, and Casey Jones) will all need to perform at a high level- and should be capable of it.
The Mocs are expected to start Rico White at point guard, which will be interesting. White is a good shooter and playmaker, but I'm interested to see his ball handling. Jones, McGhee, the Z Men will round out the starting five. Really interested to see what the young guys do in this game.
LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--The Mocs inside guys will not be as dominant as I'm expecting them to be this year. Lance Stokes will step up and have a big game from the four spot. Part of that will be that the height of Tennessee Temple inside will be a surprise to anyone that watches this game.
--The young guys will produce at an extraordinarily high level in their first game. Look for two of the four young guys to make plays and have games that will leave the crowd going, "Wow!" and make us all excited about the future of the program.
--Rico White will do fine in this situation as the starting point guard.
--Player of the Game prediction? I'll go with White. Although, I must admit, it wouldn't surprise me if it was anyone in this one.
--Mocs 78, Tennessee Temple 51. The Mocs have more talent. The Crusaders are good defensively, but struggle offensively. It's hard to imagine them getting hot enough from the field to be able to beat the Mocs in this one. The Mocs should be able to keep the score down, but there will be moments when we scratch our heads about the offense. In the end, the Mocs do more than enough to come up with the win and make us feel pretty good overall about the direction of the team.
GO MOCS!
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