Published: February 04, 2009 11:46 pm      

No. 2 MSU rolls over Voorhees

DENMARK, S.C. — NAIA No. 2-ranked Mountain State University (19-2) had little trouble dispatching fellow Independent Region member Voorhees University 82-56 Wednesday night.

Marcus Hunter and Nick Aldridge led the Cougars attack with 16 points apiece. Aldridge added 11 rebounds and Hunter, starting in place of Tony Brown, injured in a practice mishap, for the fourth straight game.

Brown is now available and had six points off the bench.

“Just to get another road win, to be able to play well on the road, is definitely a feather in our cap,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said.

The victory raised MSU’s road record to 6-1.

Mountain State started strong against Voorhees, a key in the game, considering the home team’s penchant for methodically working the shot clock.

“That was definitely important,” Bolen said. “They were trying to work the shot clock and getting out in front they had to try to work at a faster pace. That worked to our favor.”

The Cougars led 46-30 at the half.

Two other Cougars reached double figures in the game — Andrew Lee with 12 and Anthony “A.J.” Pigram added 11.

Ermin Tarcin had six, Bo Harris and Greg Grimes five, Daniel Scott and Franklin Jones two and Adison Musquera one.

Voorhees was led by Hubert King with 11 and Andrew Dikas with 10.

After dropping to No. 4 following an upset loss to WVU Tech, MSU has steadily risen back up the rankings, now trailing only Rogers State (Okla.).

“That’s our goal, to be number one in the country, every regular season, but the main goal is staying in that top 15 to get an automatic bid to the national tournament,” Bolen said.

MSU has been in the Top 25 104 straight weeks, which is the longest such streak in the nation. Robert Morris is second at 54 weeks.

After its recent three-game southern swing, MSU returns home for a game with Independent Region member Crichton University (14-6) at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center Saturday at 4 p.m.

Like MSU, Crichton features six players averaging in double figures.