By Dan Stillwell
Register-Herald Sports Writer
January 03, 2008 01:01 am
—
Mountain State was sporting about it Tuesday night, giving visiting Union a nine-point head start.
Then the Cougars went to work.
Top-rated MSU overcame the poor start — and sketchy shooting at times — to rally for an 81-74 victory at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
“It was a worry,” coach Bob Bolen said of the 9-0 deficit 2:47 into the contest. “But we snapped out of it quick and got into the flow of the game.”
The 13-0 Cougars rode strong play from center James McGriff and wings Adron Marshall and James Spencer as they quickly fought their way into the lead.
The trio gave MSU great balance all night, both in scoring and rebounding. Marshall led with 22 points and 13 boards, followed by Spencer with 19 points and eight rebounds. McGriff chipped in 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Offensively, they enabled MSU to overcome a 32-point performance by NAIA scoring leader Matt Neaville.
They also helped the Cougars to control the boards 48-41 on the night.
“Our starting wings were hitting the boards and battling,” Bolen said. “They’re very unselfish players and were helping inside. I was pleased with their effort.”
Marshall scored 14 of his points in the first half as MSU went up 37-31.
Union (6-4) fought back in the second half on great shooting from beyond the 3-point arc by Neaville and reserve Tony Brown.
After trailing by as many as eight points, Union charged back into a 67-67 tie with 3:34 left to play.
McGriff suddenly took control, scoring a layup and then a stickback. Union got a couple of foul shots from Tacuma Alexander, but McGriff scored again off a crisp Marshall pass.
“Those were key plays by Jason,” Bolen said. “We expect that out of him.”
Meanwhile, the MSU defense managed to keep Neaville from getting a clean shot the rest of the way.
He netted just five points — all on foul shots — in the final four minutes.
“Neaville’s a scorer and we wanted to make it difficult on him,” Bolen said. “He had maybe one or two good looks all game. The rest of the time we were on him.”
MSU had eight more offensive rebounds and seven fewer turnovers than the Bulldogs
“We did a great job defending them and making them take the shots we wanted them to take,” Union coach Ralph Turner said. “But they got 21 offensive rebounds.
“We shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and they shot 32, yet they still beat us. That tells you how good they are.
“This is Bob’s best team ever. They’re talented, they’re athletic and they pose so many problems.”
Brian Lake led Union with 12 rebounds. Brown added 12 points.
The crowd for the game wasn’t huge, but it was vocal and a pleasant surprise for Bolen considering the 5:30 p.m. start time.
“It’s a church night, WVU is playing (in the Fiesta Bowl) and the weather is terrible,” he said. “But people still came out to support us.
“We’re looking forward to a great crowd Saturday.”
MSU stays home to meet 13-3 Bluefield College Saturday as part of a 2 p.m.-4 p.m. doubleheader with Mountain State University Academy.
— E-mail:
dstillwell@register-herald.com
Mountain State 81, Union 74
UNION (6-4)
Tacuma Alexander 3-9 3-6 9, Keith Tolliver 2-4 2-2 6, Brian Lake 2-10 2-6 6, Ryan Merriman 3-7 0-0 7, Matt Neaville 11-17 5-5 32, Antione Joseph 1-3 0-0 2, Veljko Petrovic 0-0 1-2 1, Tony Brown 4-9 0-0 11, Ronald Banhoro 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 26-61 13-21 74.
MOUNTAIN STATE (13-0)
James Spencer 8-17 0-3 19, Jarvis Jackson 0-4 4-4 4, Tyrice Watkins 2-9 3-4 8, Adron Marshall 8-19 4-4 22, Jason McGriff 9-16 1-1 20, Ralph Legg 1-6 0-0 2, Denzel Lyles 0-2 0-0 0, Ricky Jackson 1-2 0-0 3, Papa Gassama 1-3 0-0 2, Ermin Tarcin 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 30-80 16-18 81.
Halftime: MSU 37-31. Three-point goals: Union 9-29 (Alexander 0-3, Tolliver 0-1, Lake 0-3, Merriman 1-5, Neaville 5-9, Joseph 0-2, Brown 3-6), MSU 5-26 (Spencer 0-4, J. Jackson 0-2, Watkins 1-5, Marshall 2-7, McGriff 1-1, Legg 0-4, Lyles 0-1, R. Jackson 1-1, Tarcin 0-1). Rebounds: Union 41 (Lake 12), MSU 48 (Marshall 13, McGriff 10, Spencer 8). Assists: Union 14 (Alexander 5), MSU 12 (Marshall l4). Fouls: Union 15, MSU 18. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: Union (bench).
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