Published: March 09, 2008 11:35 pm         

Cougars reclaim Independent title; off to nationals

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Next stop, Kansas City.

Mountain State punched its ticket to the NAIA tournament with the Independent Region’s automatic bid Sunday with a 82-68 victory over Voorhees at the Jonas T. Kennedy Health and Physical Education Center.

Tournament MVP Adron Marshall scored 22 points and James Spencer and Jarvis Jackson added 20 points each as the Cougars reclaimed the Independent title they lost to Park last year.

“It’s a lot better to go into (the national tournament) with a win,” Marshall said. “This is going to be a big motivator for us.”

“Those are the nets we want,” said MSU coach Bob Bolen. “We’re happy to win and bring the Independent trophy back to Mountain State. But we are working for the next (trophy).”

The Cougars also had to overcome foul trouble, which is why Jackson’s performance was key, as well as that of Ermin Tarcin off the bench.

With big Jason McGriff saddled with foul trouble most of the game (he only played 18 minutes), Jackson expanded his role into that of a scorer, after a two-point, 10-assist performance in the first game Saturday.

“Coach told me that even though I had just two points and 10 assists, I still did a great job distributing the ball,” Jackson said. “That’s what I like to do; it’s my role to quarterback the team. But when James and ’Griff got into foul trouble, I knew I was going to have to do some of the scoring.”

“(Voorhees) didn’t want to help off of James and Adron, and Jarvis was beating them off the dribble,” Bolen said of his attacking point guard. “Yesterday (Morris) helped and he had 10 assists. Today Voorhees didn’t and he had 20 points.”

Jackson also had team-highs of six rebounds and seven assists.

“Love him,” said Voorhees coach Andre Williams of Jackson, the native South Carolinian. “He was the key factor in the game, no doubt about it.”

“Jarvis stepped up,” said Marshall. “He does whatever we need when we need it. He was huge.”

“I’m proud of him,” said his roommate, Jason Spencer. “That’s a big performance from him to come down here and play like that.”

Spencer now is second all-time at MSU for points in a season with 744. Zach Moss’ school record 926, set in 2004, appears safe.

Jackson started a key Mountain State run when he had a three and a deuce back-to-back to give the Cougars a 58-47 lead with 10:58 left.

After a Voorhees basket, Spencer had a slam off an assist from Marshall, Marshall had a deuce and Tarcin, who had nine points in 27 minutes of action, had two free throws as the Cougars built a cushion.

MSU made 10 straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“Ermin battled out there,” Bolen said. “He is going to work hard when he gets in there and we needed that. That helped us match their intensity because Voorhees is a hard team to beat three times in one season.”

Spencer and Jackson were both 7-of-11 from the floor and a combined 9-of-9 at the free throw line.

“When we get that kind of production from those two, we’re hard to beat,” Bolen said.

Mountain State beat Voorhees twice during the regular season (92-85 Feb. 1 at Voorhees and 94-75 Feb. 19 in Beckley).

Like the first two matchups this season, the game was tight at the half, with MSU holding a 39-35 advantage at the break.

The Cougars were plagued by foul trouble in the first half. During one stretch late in the first half, MSU played with just one starter, Spencer, on the floor. And he had missed a seven-minute stretch.

McGriff picked up his third foul with 10:43 remaining and missed the rest of the half.

But the group that included Ralph Legg, Denzel Lyles, Tarcin and Rod Green, did a good job of holding Voorhees at bay.

A seven-point Voorhees run early in the game staked the Tigers to an 11-7 lead. But MSU came right back with its own seven-point run to retake the lead. And they would stay their for the remainder of the half, by as few as one, 29-28, and as many as eight, 38-30.

Voorhees outrebounded MSU 11-5 on the offensive glass in the first half to help keep it in the game. The Tigers finished with a 27-10 advantage on the offensive glass.

Spencer was named to the all-tournament team, along with Voorhees’ Antonio Bolton (30 points in the loss), Park’s John Merriweather, Morris’ Kenneth Nesmith and Brescia’s Doug Denton.

It is the fourth time that Mountain State has won 30 or more games in a season (2003-04-05).

Pairings for the national tournament will be released Wednesday.

— E-mail: demorrison@

register-herald.com



MSU 82, Voorhees 68

Voorhees (16-14)

Corey Mikel 4-12 0-0 10, Everett Pace 1-7 3-3 5, Jason Clarke 2-4 0-0 4, Terrence Woodbury 4-11 0-2 8, Antonio Bolton 9-23 8-11 30, Derrick Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Hubert King 0-1 0-0 0, Calvin Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Tiachien Dickerson 2-4 2-2 6, Radee Tutler 2-4 1-2 5, Darrin Shinnary 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-68 14-20 68.



MSU (30-2)

James Spencer 7-11 5-5 20, Jarvis Jackson 7-11 4-4 20, Tyrice Watkins 0-6 0-0 0, Adron Marshall 9-12 2-3 22, Jason McGriff 2-2 1-2 5, Ralph Legg 1-4 3-6 5, Denzel Lyles 0-0 00 0, Rod Green 0-0 1-2 1, Ermin Tarcin 2-5 5-8 9. Totals 28-51 21-30 82.

Halftime—MSU 39-35. 3-Point Goals—Voorhees 6-22 (Mikel 2-5, Pace 0-3, Bolton 4-12, Harris 0-1, Dickerson 0-1), MSU 5-13 (Spencer 1-2, Jackson 2-3, Watkins 0-2, Marshall 2-4, Legg 0-1, Tarcin 0-1). Fouled Out—McGriff. Rebounds—Voorhees 47 (Woodbury 10), MSU 32 (Jackson 6). Assists—Voorhees 9 (Bolton 4), MSU 15 (Jackson 7). Total Fouls—Voorhees 27, MSU 19. A—1,850.