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Here's the deal. Let's rewind back to memory lane to the last NIT Garden Party the Shocks played in and won. Hatch was MVP and Stutz was tough in the clutch. This win set the stage for the Shocks as they then played in 7 Dances in a row which included a Final 4 appearance. Fast forward to this rebuilding Season to when the Shocks were 1-6 in the AAC. The Shocks finished strong, made the NIT again, and have defeated a 1, 2, and 3 Seed team which never had achieved before in the NIT. So far, so good. 3 down and 2 to go and now at a neutral court.
So enter the Bisons of Lipscomb who defeated the NC State Wolfpack 94-93 in a nail biter. Garrison Mathews only had a career high of 44-pts. Yipes, Stripes, Beechnut Gum as WStateU would say. Kenny Cooper scored the final 5 dagger points down the stretch. This team plays in the Atlantic Sun Conference, are coached by Casey Alexander, and they are now 28-7. We won't refer to them as Cinderella because they are a 5 seed and our beloved Shocks a 6 seed. This team returned their top 6 scorers from last Season which explains why they are having success.
DD will prolly get some time guarding 6'5" Garrison Mathews to hold this 44 point game back down to a mild roar. Scoring even close to 44 on Dennis, who can be a defensive menace, is like trying to pull hens teeth. Getting MM back home to end his Shocker career was finer than a frog hair. The Shocks now pursue an encore win against another hot team followed by a grand finale' win for the Ship on April 2nd and 4th. A wise SN Board always taught me that still playing in April is groovy. This beloved Shocker squad will give it their all and hustle for 40 minutes. If we execute, we can pull these off, one at a time. No matter what, we will have more stories to share on SN than the Empire State Building. From on top of it years ago, I was so close to Madison Square Garden, but never went in for a visit. This will be a 7 point win for the Shocks as we slow down the roll of the Bisons. After all, we beat UCF who gave Duke a huge scare and had a great chance to beat them. I still want to see 3G draw up the basketball version of the Statue of Liberty football play. We can say just how proud we are for this Shocker squad fighting through some adversity of losses and getting to this Final 4. Three down and two to go for the National NIT Ship. Ending the Season with a win is a feat that next to no teams accomplish. The Shocks have an opportunity to do this again as so the last time they played in the NIT.
Bisons 70
Shocks 77
So enter the Bisons of Lipscomb who defeated the NC State Wolfpack 94-93 in a nail biter. Garrison Mathews only had a career high of 44-pts. Yipes, Stripes, Beechnut Gum as WStateU would say. Kenny Cooper scored the final 5 dagger points down the stretch. This team plays in the Atlantic Sun Conference, are coached by Casey Alexander, and they are now 28-7. We won't refer to them as Cinderella because they are a 5 seed and our beloved Shocks a 6 seed. This team returned their top 6 scorers from last Season which explains why they are having success.
DD will prolly get some time guarding 6'5" Garrison Mathews to hold this 44 point game back down to a mild roar. Scoring even close to 44 on Dennis, who can be a defensive menace, is like trying to pull hens teeth. Getting MM back home to end his Shocker career was finer than a frog hair. The Shocks now pursue an encore win against another hot team followed by a grand finale' win for the Ship on April 2nd and 4th. A wise SN Board always taught me that still playing in April is groovy. This beloved Shocker squad will give it their all and hustle for 40 minutes. If we execute, we can pull these off, one at a time. No matter what, we will have more stories to share on SN than the Empire State Building. From on top of it years ago, I was so close to Madison Square Garden, but never went in for a visit. This will be a 7 point win for the Shocks as we slow down the roll of the Bisons. After all, we beat UCF who gave Duke a huge scare and had a great chance to beat them. I still want to see 3G draw up the basketball version of the Statue of Liberty football play. We can say just how proud we are for this Shocker squad fighting through some adversity of losses and getting to this Final 4. Three down and two to go for the National NIT Ship. Ending the Season with a win is a feat that next to no teams accomplish. The Shocks have an opportunity to do this again as so the last time they played in the NIT.
Bisons 70
Shocks 77
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