Blue Raiders preparing for Sun Belt action

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee's men's basketball team will open Sun Belt Conference play on Thursday, Dec. 31 when it travels to New Orleans.

The Blue Raiders will face the Privateers at 4 p.m. in UNO Lakefront Arena on the University of New Orleans campus.

Middle Tennessee has spent the last week, with a couple of days off for Christmas, preparing for the beginning of conference play.

Senior Desmond Yates, who needs just 145 points to become the school's all-time leading scorer, along with seniors Montarrio Haddock and Calvin O'Neil will help guide the Blue Raiders.

Juniors James Washington and Rod Emanuel will provide assistance while the Blue Raider bench will be a large part of the team's success as well. Middle Tennessee's bench which includes junior Trevor Ottley and freshmen James Gallman and J.T. Sulton have posted a number of double-figure scoring games between them.

The game with New Orleans begins a busy week for the team who will play three games in five days.

Middle Tennessee will then open the home conference slate on Saturday, Jan. 2 when it plays host to UL-Lafayette at 7 p.m. in Murphy Center. On Monday, Jan. 4 the Blue Raiders travel a short distance to Nashville, Tenn., to play Vanderbilt. The game with the Commodores is set for 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on Fox Sports South as well as ESPN360.com.

Voice of the Blue Raiders, Chip Walters, will call the play-by-play of all three upcoming games which can be heard on the Blue Raider Network and through goblueraiders.com. Live stats will also be available as linked on goblueraiders.com.

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