Championship charge

By Dave Morrison
Sports Editor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. March 25, 2008 12:11 am

— Holy upset, Batman.
Playing the role of NAIA tournament underdog for the first time since facing Union (Tenn.) in 2000, Mountain State shocked undefeated No. 1 Georgetown 78-65 in the Division I Fab Four Monday night at historic Municipal Auditorium.
Behind the three-point shooting of James Spencer — 25 points, including 16 in the first 10:14 — the Cougars took the lead early and never trailed in the game.
It was MSU’s third Fab Four win over the Tigers.
“I’m really proud of the team,” Mountain State coach Bob Bolen said. “They came out and battled on the boards. We came out and worked to get the ball to James and he was feeling it. I couldn’t get a word in during the breaks because Jarvis (Jackson) and Adron (Marshall) kept saying, ‘Let’s get the ball to James.’”
Mountain State, 34-2, now faces Oklahoma City in the national title game tonight in the NAIA Division I championship game at 9:45 p.m. The game will be carried live on CBS College Sports (Channel 317) and Paul Van Scott will have the call live in WTNJ 105.9-FM.
Oklahoma City defeated Campbellsville 78-64 to move on to the title game.
Spencer was 4-of-5 from three-point range as the Cougars took a 25-14 lead and the Cougars led by as many as 16 in the first half, 34-18, before settling for a 42-31 lead at the break.
“James hitting those threes was big,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said. “One of those he hit was about seven or eight feet behind the line. All our guys know they have the green light to shoot it.”
And Spencer did, finishing the game hitting 5-of-7 threes. Yet Spencer credited the Mountain State defense.
“We were playing hard defense and there was a breaking point,” Spencer said.
“The 12th minute of the second half was their breaking point. They kept turning the ball over and we tried to put it away.”
“All their perimeters can shoot it,” Georgetown’s Demetrius Guions said.
“They came out and hit some threes early and we had trouble getting stops. They are also quick, so they can drive past you. It’s kind of like pick one of the two, so they are hard to guard.”
In the second half, Georgetown fought back and cut the Cougar lead to six, on a three-pointer by Guoins.
But Jarvis Jackson answered with a three-point play and Rod Green had a deuce to push the lead back to 11.
Again, Georgetown cut the deficit to six, on a three-point play by David Graham and a basket inside by Guoins.
Spencer answered with a three and then Mountain State would begin a parade to the free throw line, canning 7-of-8 to make it 60-48. The one missed free throw by Adron Marshall was picked up by Ermin Tarcin, who converted the board into his only basket of the night to give the Cougars a 62-48 lead with 8:27 left.
“They wanted it more than us,” Chase said. “We were tight (early). We had those jitters that come with every basketball game. We just didn’t make our stops.”
Down the stretch, Mountain State made enough free throws — a Spencer basket with 4:29 left was their last field goal of the game — to hold off the Tigers. MSU was 9-of-16 over the final four minutes.
“My hat’s off to Mountain State,” Georgetown coach Happy Osborne said. “I thought they played well. We were tight early and it got us into a hole.”
The Cougar’s 34 wins is the second best in school history. The record is 38, which can’t be matched.
“We weren’t intimidated,” Marshall said. “We were undefeated at one time too and we lost two games by one point.”
MSU is now 18-8 all-time in the tournament, including 1-1 in national championship games. MSU has the most wins by a state team in the NAIA national tournament.
In addition to Spencer’s 25 and five rebounds, Jackson had 16 and six assists, Adron Marshall had 14 and six boards and Green came off the bench for a big 10 points.
Georgetown, which hasn’t won the national title since 1998, finished the season 35-1.
— E-mail:
demorrison@register-herald.com

MSU 78, Georgetown College 65
MSU (34-2)
James Spencer 8-14 4-7 25, Jarvis Jackson 3-8 10-14 16, Tyrice Watkins 15 0-0 2, Adron Marshall 3-8 5-11 13, Jason McGriff 2-3 0-4, Ralph Legg 2-4 0-0 6, Rod Green 5-8 0-0 10, Ermin Tarcin 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-52 19-32 78.
Georgetown (35-1)
Gus Chase 5-10 3-5 13, Justin Taylor 1-3 2-3 3, Gary Turner 3-10 2-2 8, Demetirus Gouins 5-10 1-2 12, David Graham 5-9 6-9 18, Marlon Mahorn 2-9 0-0 5, Brian Stade 1-1 0-0 2, Kyle Saxton 0-2 0-0 0, Jon Elrod 1-1 0-0 2, Bret Saxton 0-0 0-0 0, Donnovan Brown 1-4 0-1 2. Totals 24-59 13-21 65.
Halftime—MSU 42-31. 3-Point Goals—MSU 9-20 (Spencer 5-7, Jackson 0-2, Wakins 0-2, Marshall 2-4, Legg 2-4, Tarcin 0-1), Georgetown 4-22 (Taylor 0-1, Turner 0-5, Gouins 1-4, Graham 2-5, Mahorn 1-5, K. Saxton 0-2). Fouled Out—Taylor, Turner, Gouins, Mahorn. Rebounds—MSU 32 (Marshall, McGriff 6), Georgetown 42 (Graham 10). Assists—MSU 12 (Jackson 6), Georgetown 6 (Taylor, Turner 3). Total Fouls—MSU 20, Georgetown 29. A—5,106.

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