Published: December 11, 2008 11:04 pm      

Cougars move up to No. 2

Mountain State coach Bob Bolen got something a little better than the standard Aqua Velva for Christmas. And he didn’t have to wait two weeks to get it.

The Cougars (9-1) moved up three notches to No. 2 in the latest NAIA Division I poll.

Which means that MSU will likely go through the Christmas break no worse than No. 2.

Cumberlands, the team that beat MSU, is the new No. 1 team.

Union (Tenn.), Concordia (Calif.) and Rogers State (Okla.) round out the Top 5.

While many coaches say voting before the season is over is not important, Bolen took a different tact on MSU’s No. 2 ranking.

“I think it is (important),” he said. “A third of the way through the season to be ranked No. 2 is good for us. It’s important for any team to try to stay in the Top 15. If you can do that you are almost assured of getting an at-large bid to the national tournament.”

And it is paramount now, because of the new additions to the Independent Region.

“Crichton is very talented,” Bolen said of the team his squad dispatched last Saturday by scoring the final seven points in an 87-83 win on the road. “Life is very good. Park is around .500 but they’ve played a tough schedule. Lambuth is 7-2. Brescia is having a good season. There are a lot of good teams in the Independent Region and to win that tournament you are going to have to play three good teams in three nights. It’s going to be a difficult tournament to win. It makes the regular season that much more important.”

MSU finished runner up in last year’s national tournament but lost all five starters from that team.

“It’s a good (holiday gift) for our players,” Bolen said. “With the amount of new players we have, to be 9-1 at the semester break gives us a lift heading into the break.”

The Cougars will practice through Monday before breaking for the holiday.

MSU returns to action Dec. 27 against Ohio State-Marion at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

The Cougars were scheduled to play Lee University at Lee Saturday but that game has been moved to January.

“We have a good relationship with Lee and coach (Tommy) Brown,” Bolen said. “They were expecting a large crowd and they didn’t want to play Mountain State while the student were (on Christmas break). I felt that was the right thing to do. Under those circumstances Tommy would have done the same thing for us.”

— E-mail:

demorrison@register-herald.com