Published: January 13, 2008 12:03 am         

Mountain State gets Legg up on the Cumberlands

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. — James Spencer had 21 points and Ralph Legg came off the bench to add 20 as NAIA No. 1 Mountain State remained undefeated with a 97-90 win over a scrappy University of the Cumberlands Saturday.

Legg was huge down the stretch, with a key three-point play and by making his free throws.

“Ralph came in the first half and hit some big shots for us,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said. “In the second half, I thought he did a great job running the team. He hit a couple big and-1s as the shot clock was running down.

“Ralph’s a veteran. He made good point-guard decisions. There were times when they stopped our sets. That’s when the point guard has to make some critical decisions. And he did that.”

MSU led 42-36 at the break but increased that lead to 12 points early in the second half.

But the Patriots stormed back, eventually tying the score at 67-67 with 9:34 remaining.

The Cougars, plagued by foul trouble, finally went ahead by one, 79-78, with six minutes left when Legg went into the paint and challenged the Patriots’ post tandem and won, with a three-point play.

MSU kept the lead between four and six the rest of the way by canning its free throws. In all, MSU hit 24-of-32 at the stripe.

Tyrice Watkins had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Adron Marshall added 11 points.

Watkins scored his points on just six shots (5-of-6) while Legg tallied his 20 on just seven (6-of-7) shots.

“I thought Tyrice had a lot of big hustle plays at crunch time,” Bolen said. “There was one play where he was falling down and he ended up getting an assist to Rod Green.”

Bolen also lauded the play of Green, who got expanded minutes because of foul trouble on Jason McGriff and Papa Gassama.

“Rod Green really stepped up,” Bolen said. “We think we have a lot of depth at the post. Rod hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time, but last Sunday he was in the gym by himself for two hours. That really paid off tonight. It’s a credit to Rod.”

MSU shot 51.6 percent (32-62) from the field while the Cumberlands hit on 52.7 percent (29-55).

Chad Byron had 23 points to lead the Cumberlands (8-8) while Luke Fitzgerald had 22, Josh Phillips 18 (and 12 boards) and Mike Gibson 11.

MSU’s bench outscored the Cumberlands 38-13.

“I can’t say enough about the play of our bench,” Bolen said. “When we needed those guys to step up, they did.”

MSU (16-0) plays WVU Tech at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.



No. 1 MSU 97, Cumberlands, Ky. 90

MOUNTAIN STATE (16-0)

James Spencer 7-14 6-7 21, Jarvis Jackson 1-3 2-3 4, Tyrice Watkins 5-6 5-6 17, Adron Marshall 4-9 2-4 11, Jason McGriff 3-8 0-0 6, Ralph Legg 6-7 5-7 20, Denzel Lyles 3-6 0-0 8, Ricky jackson 2-4 0-0 4, Papa Gassama 0-1 0-1 0, Rod Green 1-3 2-2 4, Ermin Tarcin 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 32-62 24-32 97

CUMBERLANDS (8-8)

Josh Phillips 6-10 4-8 18, Chad Byron 6-12 9-10 23, Mike Gibson 4-7 2-2 11, Luke Fitzgerald 7-11 8-10 22, Matt Daniel 1-3 0-0 3, Danil Zakhlebnyy 0-1 0-0 0, Terrance Asmond 4-8 1-4 9, Maurice Brown 1-2 1-1 3, Dustin Fothergill 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 29-55 26-37 90.

Halftime—MSU 42-36. 3-Point Goals—MSU 9-18 (Spencer 1-4, J. Jackson 0-2, Watkins 2-2, Marshall 1-2, Legg 3-4, Lyles 2-3, R. jackson 0-1), UC 6-17 (Phillips 2-4, Byron 2-6, Gibson 1-3, Daniel 1-3, Fothrgilll 0-1). Fouled Out—McGriff, Brown. Rebounds—MSU 29 (Watkins 11),UC 33 (Phillips 12). Assists—MSU 7 (Legg 3), UC 13(Asmond 4). Total Fouls—MSU 25, UC 27, Technical fouls—MSU bench. A—1,217.