Blue Raider men’s basketball took a trip to Cape Town, Grand Cayman, to participate in the Cayman Islands Classic as they squared off against three other mid-major opponents. 

MTSU (4-3) dropped two of its three games, placing third in the tournament. 

Game 1: (W) 90-87 vs. Murray State University (5-3) 

Middle Tennessee got off to a hot start in its first and only win of the tournament. Redshirt sophomore Torey Alston was stellar in the victory, as he tallied a 26-point, 16-rebound double-double. 

Alston was efficient in a career-best performance, with a stat line of 12-of-21 from the field. Only two of his points were scored from the free throw line, as the Blue Raiders’ star forward displayed dominance from the floor against the Racers. 

Graduate student Alec Oglesby followed suit in the scoring column, tallying 17. Twelve of his points came from behind the arc, as the Lawrenceville, Georgia, native shot 4-of-5 from three. 

It was more of a balanced effort on offense for Murray State, as the Racers had five players in double-figure scoring. Senior center Fredrick King was the high scorer for Murray, with 18 points on eight shots from the field. 

Both squads struggled from the free-throw line, as MTSU went 10-for-18 and Murray was 20-of-29. King especially struggled for the Racers, shooting an abysmal 6-of-12 on his foul shots. 

Game 2: (L) 92-79 vs. George Washington University (6-2) 

The Blue Raiders committed 14 turnovers in the loss to the Revolutionaries, leading to 23 points off turnovers for GW. The team struggled from behind the three-point line as well, with only seven shots falling. 

Alston led the squad in scoring once again, dropping 17 points against the Revs. Oglesby and junior center Chris Loofe each contributed 13 points to the effort. 

Senior wing Kamari Lands struggled on offense in the loss, shooting 0-for-8 on field goal attempts. He totaled two points, with both coming from free throws. 

A big first half from three powered the Revs’ offense in the second game of the tournament, as the group shot 60% with six makes across the first 20 minutes. Guard Tre Dinkins’ nine points were instrumental in George Washington’s three-point barrage, with all of his points coming from behind the line. 

Rafael Castro was the primary standout for GW’s offense, lighting the Blue Raiders’ defense up for 21 points, including seven from free throws. 

MTSU held steady in the rebound margin, trailing the Revs by one board. Alston had seven for the Blue Raiders, while graduate student point guard Sean Smith added five. 

Game 3: (L) 72-62 vs. McNeese State University (6-1) 

Favored in all three games in the tournament, the McNeese State Cowboys entered with the highest NCAA Evaluation Tool — NET — ranking of all four teams at 58. 

This didn’t matter to the Blue Raiders in the first half as they took a 34-28 lead to the break, and at one point in the first half, held an 11-point lead. 

The Cowboys took advantage of an 8-0 run from the 13-minute to the 11-minute mark that brought them even with MTSU at 48-48. From there, it was all McNeese State as they outscored the Blue Raiders 24-14 to finish the game. 

McNeese placed an emphasis on guarding Alston after getting a look at the damage he did against GW and Murray State. The forward was held to 2-of-7 shooting and six points, but was still able to take home an All-Tournament honor due to his performance in the first two games. 

Lands stepped up as the leading scorer after his lackluster performance the day before. The 6-foot-8 guard/forward hybrid tallied 18 points, including a strong performance from three-point land. Lands was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. 

Sophomore guard Jahvin Carter supplemented the Blue Raiders’ offense effort with 13 points in his first start at MTSU. This was a notable change for Middle Tennessee, as Carter was inserted into the starting five in place of junior guard Tre Green, who did not appear in the contest. 

Javohn Garcia played a large part in the win for McNeese, dropping 21 against the Blue Raiders. The guard went 8-of-8 at the charity stripe, sparking a 23-of-25 night for the Cowboys on foul shots. Garcia was named the Tournament MVP. 

In comparison, MTSU went 8-for-14 from the free-throw line. 

The Blue Raiders will return to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for Thanksgiving, and then will play host to the University of Alabama-Birmingham (6-2) on Dec. 1. This will be MTSU’s first home game since Nov. 8, in a 106-59 win over the Webster Gorloks (5-2). 

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