Published: January 01, 2008 10:50 pm         

MSU faces big challenge today when Union visits

Before lounging in the chair of your choice to watch tonight’s Fiesta Bowl, Mountain State coach Bob Bolen implores fans to come see his team’s “biggest home game of the year.”

The unbeaten Cougars host one of their biggest nemeses today in Union University. Tip-off has been moved to 5:30 p.m. from the normal 7 p.m. weekday start time.

Bolen said the Bulldogs’ visit to the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center, normally on Saturday afternoons, annually draws one of the biggest home crowds of the season.

“Now it’s at 5:30 on a Wednesday. Hopefully we can get a great crowd in here,” he said. “We really need our fans to come out for this one.”

Those who show up could witness MSU do something it has never done — sweep the season series from Union.

The Cougars (12-0) defeated Union 100-89 Dec. 1 in Jackson, Tenn. It was MSU’s first-ever win on Union’s floor.

MSU is 3-5 all-time against the Bulldogs.

“It would be exciting to be able to (sweep Union),” Bolen said. “They have had our number in the past.”

The game pits the nation’s top two scorers as well as two of the country’s top three-point shooting teams.

Union (6-3) is led by junior Matt Neaville. The 6-foot guard leads NAIA in scoring at 30.0 points per game. He also tops the Bulldogs in assists with 40 in nine games.

The Bulldogs also have a pair of Division I transfers in their starting lineup.

Brian Lake, a 6-6 forward, previously played at Middle Tennessee State. He averages 16.2 ppg and 8.7 rebounds. Keith Tolliver, a 6-6 guard averaging 3.6 ppg, transferred from Memphis.

Rounding out the starting five are 6-3 guard Tacuma Alexander (13.7 ppg) and 6-6 forward Ryan Merriman (8.7 ppg, 9.9 rpg).

Tony Brown, a 6-1 guard, is the top player off the bench. He averages 15.4 ppg.

The Bulldogs are No. 1 in the country in three-pointers made per game at 13.4. They are 121-of-299 (40.5 percent) as a team.

Brown is 22-of-42 (51.2 percent) from beyond the arc, followed by Alexander at 15-of-35 (42.9) and Neaville at 57-of-135 (42.2).

“All five of (their starters) shoot the three-pointer,” Bolen said. “We have to defend the three well, but they can also go off the dribble.”

The Cougars, meanwhile, are second at 11.7 threes per game.

Leading MSU is 6-4 senior guard James Spencer, who trails only Neaville in scoring at 26.3 ppg. Adron Marshall, 6-4 guard, averages 17.0 ppg, followed by 6-9 center Jason McGriff at 9.4, 6-7 forward Tyrice Watkins (9.0) and 6-0 guard Jarvis Jackson (8.1).

Union has not played since defeating the University of Mobile 81-71 Dec. 15. Eight of the Bulldogs’ nine opponents were ranked in the NAIA Division I preseason Top 25, including No. 1 MSU.

— E-mail: gfauber@

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