The Mid Major Review

8:55 PM EST - The Jaspers have pulled out an exciting victory here tonight in the friendly confines of Draddy Gymnasium.  They travel over to Fordham on Saturday for the Battle of the Bronx.  Morgan State slumps to a defeat game they looked like they were going to put away mid way through the second half.  However, the Jaspers move to 2-0 on the winning shot by Chris Smith in a game in which he didn’t shot particularly well, but ended up getting the job done in the end.  I only hope that every game we attend this year is as exciting as the one witnessed tonight.  We have a two day break before our next Game Night, and also two more days to evaluate what this sites purpose is going to be moving forward.  Each game that I attend will help mold and shape what our goals will be.  This weekend will be a time for reflection.  Join us on Friday evening as we travel to Nashville to attend the game between Northern Illinois and Tennessee State from the Gentry Sports Center.  Hopefully we will have an interview lined up between MMR and Graduate Assistant Brian Collins.  Have a good night everyone!   

8:53 PM EST - The Jaspers pull out the victory, as the final shot from the Bears is partially blocked.  What a night!  We’ll have a wrap for you.  Pictures to come either tonight or Friday when I have internet access again.    

8:52 PM EST - The Bears miss a free throw!  Chris Smith gets a brilliant pass and takes it for the reverse lay-up with 6.5 seconds left and the gym explodes!  This is the kind of game one should watch on a cold November night.  

8:50 PM EST - The Jaspers will have a chance to at least tie here at the end.  They will get the last possession.  

8:46 PM EST - The Morgan State players look hungry.  They just took the lead 60-58 with 45.6 remaining.  Morgan State’s last 4 points came from Kevin Thompson.  He just fouled out, so if the Jaspers are tie they will do so from the free throw line with Andrew Gabriel.

8:43 PM EST - It’s going right down to the wire here.  At 2:05 left we have MC 58-56 over Morgan State. 

8:40 PM EST - Meanwhile, it’s a barn burner over in Boone.  App. State holding on there 60-59.  

8:38 PM EST - The Jaspers have really woken up.  It’s now an 11-0 run from the Jaspers that sees them with their largest lead of the game at 5, 56-51.  It’s going to be a wild finish.  Andrew Gabriel at the line to complete a three point play.  

8:28 PM EST - The Jaspers have gone on a mini 5-0 run to cancel my previous statement.  

8:26 PM EST - This is by far the coldest gym I have ever been in.  Even though this place is a cathedral of college basketball, it is also a drafty place to watch and play a game.  

8:23 PM EST - 45- 40 Morgan State at the second media timeout.  The Bears look like they are one or two possessions from breaking it open. 

8:13 PM EST - 37-36 with 15:41 left.  

8:04 PM EST - I wish so much I could have brought my audio equipment tonight.  This place is full of so much history and character, I feel like I am not even going to do it justice chronicling it here in words or in the pictures that are to come later.  

8:02 PM EST - We are about to start the second half.  The Jaspers will be looking to over turn a four point lead.  

8:00 PM EST - Charlotte and App. State are locked in a real good battle tonight in Boone.  At halftime it’s App. State 36-35.  

7:49 PM EST - We’ll be back in a few.  We’re going to meet some folks and see if we can snap some photos. 

7:48 PM EST - Halftime comes and we are at 30-26 Morgan State.  Stats coming up.  Remember to check back later for some pictures of the game tonight.  

7:43 PM EST - The game has become a defensive slog as we have been stuck at 30-26 for 2 minutes now.  

7:37 PM EST - Even though the Jaspers return a lot of their players, they still seem young.  They start two seniors.  At times, Manhattan have looked brilliant.  At other times they seem to struggle and have spurts where they turn the ball over inexplicably.  The Jaspers can still make some noise in the MAAC, but they will have to have more focus on each possession to really compete.  Jasper fans need to pay attention and get to know their team. They have a lot of potential.  

7:31 PM EST - Herve Banogle is banging away inside for the Jaspers on both side of the floor.  He is a real load for the Bears to contend with in the paint.  

7:28 PM EST - The game so far has been a fast moving affair.  We are already at the third media timeout.  We stand at 20-19 Bears.  

7:21 PM EST - I don’t have anything against the Public Address.  I have never heard a public address that has narrated the game as much as the Manhatten P.A. guy has.  It’s a nice change of pace.   

7:18 PM EST - Nothing too interesting going on right now around the nation.  Most of tonight’s action is coming a little later tonight.  When we start seeing some scores of note we’ll start talking about them.  

7:16 PM EST - Just had a conversation with Jaspers SID Steve Dombrowski.  He gave us a copy of Ronny’s box score from the NJIT game from last week.  13 all with 12:55.  

7:08 PM EST - I just figured out we aren’t going to have pictures until later.  We already have some good ones.  I left the memory card reader at my hotel down in Times Square…  

7:04 PM EST - It’s almost tip-off time here in Draddy Gymnasium from the campus of Manhattan College. 

7:00 PM EST - Hey guys.  It’s been since opening day since we have seen a post on MMR.  There are several good reasons for this.  The first and most important is that I have not had free access to the internet since I have arrived in New York for a trade show that my company is a part of at Javits this week.  There are a myriad of other reasons that are not as important and not really relevant for tonight’s festivities.  Tonight, I will be bring you more live blogging from the game, hopefully answering some questions, and hopefully getting closer to what purpose we actually serve.  For now and the immediate future all that matters is the question we will be asking those whom we visit:  What is a  Mid Major?  We won’t have a podcast tonight, but this weekend is going to chalked full of Audio/Visual Win.  More detail later.  For now it’s national anthem time.