Home Page
Related Photos
-
Associated Press
Tools
Championship charge
Mountain State in title game after 78-65 victory over Georgetown
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 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.
- Today's Front Page
-
Law enforcement officers check vehicles at a roadblock Thursday morning on W.Va. 61, just outside Oak Hill city limits, while searching for a suspect in the shooting of Oak Hill Police Cpl. Chris Young. After making a routine traffic stop around 4:30 a.m., the driver of the stopped vehicle exited and shot Young, who was later treated and released from Plateau Medical Center.
- Local News
-
-
Improvements under way to make Bluestone Dam safer
Improvements and repairs planned at Bluestone Dam over the next 10 years will make the structure safer, but new operating procedures could lead to increased flooding in some areas downstream from the dam, officials said Thursday at a public meeting in Hinton.
- DOH to relocate cemeteries for expressway
- GVEDC board gets training
- Mix-up leads to W.Va. couple on wrong ballot
- Calendar — Friday, March 19, 2010
-
- Today's Sports Front
-
-
Patriots go cold in overtime
Midland Trail was looking to make a Cinderella run at the state tournament.
- Crusaders survive against Pirates
- Mountaineers motivated entering NCAA tournament
- Coach Huggins’ father happy about Mountaineers’ success
- MSU will be on ‘guard’ against Hornets today
-
- Inside Sports
-
-
Sports categories
Click HERE for High School Sports
Click HERE for College Sports
Click HERE for Other Sports
-
Sports categories
- Editorials
-
-
Report
The results of research done by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute didn’t come as much of a surprise to those of us in southern West Virginia.
-
Report
- Life!
-
-
Cooks find more uses for ‘the other white meat’
In recent years, pork has gained increasing popularity for family dinners, buffets and even for special occasions.
- Flair and Flourish
-
- Money
-
-
Wild Flour Bakery
Morning’s wrath is long away as you shift in your bed, look at the clock and adjust your pillow.
- Davis, Hylton purchase Beckley auto dealership
- PetSmart to open in late spring in Crossroads Mall
-
- The BNI
-
-
BNI 2010 sponsors
The Golf Shop of Beckley and First Community Bank are major partners of the 2010 BNI Memorial Tournament.
-
