Published: February 25, 2007 12:18 am         

Seniors celebrate final Armory win

It was Senior Day and the seniors certainly shined in Mountain State’s 102-67 win over Southern Wesleyan Saturday afternoon at the Raleigh County Armory.

Paul Wright scored 30 points and Yusuf Baker added 29 and 10 rebounds in their last appearance at the Armory.

The 29 points was a new career best for Baker.

“I wanted to go out with a bang,” he said. “It was my last chance to show what I can do for the home fans. Anything I can do to leave a legacy I’m all for it.”

“I wanted to play like it was my last game ever,” said Wright, who tied a career best with six three-pointers. “I wanted to leave a good impression for the fans here to remember me by.”

The duo combined to go 22-of-34 from the field (11-of-17 each). Wright was 6-of-10 from three-point land and Baker was 7-of-10 from the free throw line.

“They were certainly efficient offensively,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said. “I was disappointed in the first half with our intensity.”

“We were lackadaisical. We usually play with some spark and some zip. I thought we picked it up in the second half.”

The offense wasn’t a problem midway through the first half, when MSU, led by Wright, hit six straight three-pointers to turn a 34-32 deficit into a 50-40 lead. Wright had three straight treys and Tyrice Watkins had the other three.

“The turning point in the game,” Southern Wesleyan coach Charles Wimphrie said. “We knew Paul Wright was their leading scorer. We had a guy covering him wherever he went. Unfortunately, he started getting open and he hit those shots. That’s a veteran team that Bob (Bolen) has. We did everything we could on them. They’re just an explosive team.”

Leading by just eight at the half, 50-42, MSU went on a 10-2 run to open the second half, and then Wright and Watkins again went on a three-point streak as the Cougars opened it up.

“I thought we looked like Mountain State and the No. 3 team in the nation in the second half,” Bolen said.

Baker said the team is starting to peak at just the right time.

“We’re getting primed for Kansas City,” the standout senior said.

It was his offense that opened the door for Wright early.

Baker had 14 of MSU’s first 22 points, making the Warriors come out of the box-and-one it was employing on Wright.

“I was just waiting on my turn to come out of my shell,” Wright said. “When Yusuf started hitting those shots early, it opened everything up for me. And the rim looked like it was the size of the ocean.”

“They were paying a lot of attention to Paul and Ralph, and I was able to score a lot early,” Baker said.

“We knew it was their last home game,” Wimphrie said. “And they responded like veterans.”

Bolen called the team’s second-half play the key.

“They shot 52 percent in the first half, 25 in the second half,” Bolen said. “That enabled us to get in our transition game in the second half. I thought that was the key.”

Watkins added 14 points and 10 rebounds for MSU (26-4).

The Cougars also had assists of 33 of their 38 field goals, led by Jarvis Jackson’s 13 and Adron Marshall’s eight.

Sophomores Lorenzo Earle and Byron Wimphrie, the coach’s son, had 21 and 20, respectively.

Seeding for the upcoming Independent Regional Tournament in Columbia, S.C., will be decided at 4 p.m. today. But it appears likely that MSU will be seeded No. 1 and will face the winner of Voorhees-Morris on March 5 at Benedict College. Park will likely be No. 2 and would likely play No. 3 seed Brescia the same day.

— E-mail: demorrison@

register-herald.com



No. 3 MSU 102, SO. WESLEYAN 67

SOUTHERN WESLEYAN (6-24)

Lorenzo Earle 10-26 1-2 21, Byron Wimphrie 7-18 0-0 20, Brandon Lloyd 1-2 0-0 3, Dealto Marshall 4-7 0-2 8, Brandon Callihan 3-5 0-0 6, Aramus Smith 1-1 1-3 3, Donta Wheaton 0-2 0-0 0, Seth Mills 0-0 0-0 0, Cal Dunlap 0-1 1-2 1, Furman Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Crowder 1-5 2-2 5, Quinton Cannon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-69 5-11 67.

MSU (26-4)

Ralph Legg 2-7 1-2 6, Tyrice Watkins 5-10 0-1 14, Adron Marshall 2-9 0-0 4, Paul Wright 11-17 2-3 30, Yusuf baker 11-17 7-10 29, Emmanuel Coulibaly 0-0 0-0 0, Tony Fox 0-1 0-0 0, Jarvis Jackson 1-2 0-0 3, Dominic Himmons 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Owens 2-4 0-1 4, Papa Gassama 1-1 0-0 2, Petroslav Zafirov 2-4 0-0 4, Ermin Tarcin 1-3 4-5 6. Totals 38-75 14-22 102.

Halftime—MSU 50-42. 3-Point Goals—So. Wesleyan 8-26 (Earle 0-6, Wimphie 6-13, lloyd 1-1, Wheaton 0-2, Dunlap 0-1, Crowder 1-3), MSU 12-33 (Legg 1-3, Watkins 4-9, Marshall 0-4, Wright 6-10, Baker 0-1, Fox 0-1, Jackson 1-2, Zafirov 0-2, Tarcin 0-1). Fouled Out—A. Smith. Rebounds—So. Wesleyan 40 (Marshall 9), MSU 48 (Baker 10, Watkins 10). Assists—So. Wesleyan 14 (Earle 4), MSU 33 (Jackson 13). Total Fouls—So. Wesleyan 19, MSU 10. A—1,107.