You’re reading a story from Sidelines 100, a project showcasing a century of student storytelling at Middle Tennessee State University. Sidelines 100 plans to highlight 100 stories from the newspaper archives this fall and spring.

This story originally ran in the Feb. 20, 1987, edition of Sidelines. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of all things Sidelines 100.

The Blue Raiders will make their annual trip through “Death Valley” this weekend, needing only one win to clinch the Ohio Valley Conference championship and the home-court advantage throughout the conference tournament.

The Raiders, who will enter the game with a record of 20-4 overall, clinched a share of the conference title with a win over Murray State late Monday night.

We had a piece of the tide last year,” Coach Bruce Stewart said. “One of the goals we set this year was to not share the title with anyone. We set out to win the conference and host the tournament.

“We are just a step away; we just need to go ahead and make that next big step,” Stewart said.

The Raiders will have a big task ahead of them this weekend as they battle Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night and Morehead on Monday night.

Eastern Kentucky is currently fourth in the conference with a record of 6-5 in the conference –14-10 overall.

One of the main points that concerns Stewart is Eastern Kentucky’s fast break and rebounding ability. “We’ve got to eliminate their fast-break opportunities,” Stewart said. “We can’t let them get any easy baskets behind our defense. We are also going to have to eliminate their second shot opportunities and not give them two or three shots.”

The Colonels are led by 6-2 senior guard Antonio Parris. Parris leads the conference in free-throw percentage. Parris is second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage and fourth in the conference in scoring with an average of 19.1.

Junior guard Jeff McGill leads the conference in three-point field goals. McGill is second in the conference in assists and averages 16 points per outing.

“We have to control their two guards,” Stewart said. “Jeff McGill and Antonio Parris are two excellent players, so it’s important we do a good job controlling these two young men.”

Morehead State has been the surprise team in the OVC this year. After being picked to finish seventh in the pre-season poll, the Eagles are currently in second place behind the Raiders.

Despite their strong first-half start. Morehead has now dropped three straight conference games. The Eagles are 13-10 overall and 7-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

All three losses have come on the road, and Morehead is very tough at home.

Despite their last three losses in conference play, Stewart is convinced that the Eagles are no fluke.

“They are a good team, and their early start was no fluke,” Stewart said. “They played good here, and they have a good basketball team.

“Morehead lost their games on the road, and they are very tough at home. They have just faced a little adversity on the road, and fortunately for us, they dropped those games.”

The Eagles are led by 6-9 senior center Bob McCann. McCann is considered by some as the best player in the OVC and a possible first-round draft choice in the NBA draft.

McCann is averaging 17.9 points and 11.5 rebounds a game. Morehead has a lot at stake in this game.

“Morehead is not out of it, and they also have a chance to host a first-round game in the tournament if they finish second, third, or fourth,” Stewart said. “Certainly, they don’t want to drop two games this weekend and then a game to Eastern Kentucky when they play. They certainly have a lot at stake also.”

• The Raiders’ 90-76 win over Murray State Monday night gave Stewart 20 wins or more for seven of the eight seasons he has been a head coach.
• Sophomore guard Chris Rainey continues to shoot above the .500 mark from three-point range, hitting 28 of 54 from outside the arc, a .519 clip. He’s hitting an even better .544 on all field goals.
• Sophomore forward Randy Henry leads the team in field goal percentage, hitting .576. As a team, the Raiders are hitting at .511 from the field, the same pace at which they set a new school record for accuracy last season.
• The Raiders still have the best team record and winning percentage in the state of Tennessee

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