The Motlow Bucks and Lady Bucks will take their first road trip of the basketball season together when they travel to southeast Tennessee this weekend for a pair of Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) contests.
Motlow will head to Cleveland Friday night for a pair of games against Cleveland State before landing in Chattanooga Saturday afternoon to face Chattanooga State. Both squads will return home on Tuesday, Nov. 25, to host non-conference opponent Wallace State-Hanceville at Copperweld Arena.
The Bucks (6-0, 3-0) have hardly been challenged so far this year, defeating their six opponents by an average score of 104-81. However, due to the fallout from an altercation that occurred last Saturday during their win over Volunteer State, they will face a difficult task this weekend.
After a review of the situation by school officials, seven Bucks’ players will not make the trip along with all three assistant coaches. Motlow will have only five available players for the contests in Cleveland and Chattanooga, along with head coach Matt Sligh.
“The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) recognizes the same two-game suspension for fighting as it does for players leaving the bench during a fight,” said Tori Raby-Gentry, athletic director at Motlow. “This recent incident is not representative of the values we have here at Motlow. It does, however, provide our staff and coaches a teaching opportunity for how to handle adverse situations whether they occur on the court or in life.”
The Cougars of Cleveland State (3-4, 1-3) are coming off a pair of conference losses to Jackson State and Columbia State last weekend. The Chattanooga State Tigers (4-3, 2-2) are fresh off an 88-75 win over Chattahoochee Technical College on Monday.
The Lady Bucks (1-5, 1-2) will hope to improve their position in the TCCAA standings after dropping a 90-79 decision to non-conference opponent Gadsden State at Copperweld Arena Tuesday night. The Lady Bucks’ lone win came in their conference opener against Jackson State on Nov. 7.
Cleveland State’s Lady Cougars (5-2, 3-1) lost to Jackson State last Friday before rebounding for a win over Columbia State. The Lady Tigers of Chattanooga State (3-3, 1-3) lost to both Columbia and Jackson but are coming off a 90-72 win over Chattahoochee.
Tipoff for the women’s contests are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CST on Friday and 1 p.m. CST on Saturday, with the men’s games to follow 20 minutes after the conclusion of the women’s contests. Both Saturday games will be broadcast live on Tullahoma’s sports radio The Ticket at 105.1 FM, www.theticketradio.com and the Tune In Radio smartphone app.
Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at <www.motlowsports.com> for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics at <Facebook/MotlowSports> and <Twitter@MotlowSports>.
