Published: February 07, 2009 12:12 am      

Mountain State to host ‘explosive’ Crichton today

Two months ago in Memphis, Crichton University gave Mountain State University’s basketball team fits before the Cougars pulled out an 87-83 victory.

The rematch is 4 p.m. today at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center. Expect another barnburner.

“That was a real hard-fought game,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said of the Dec. 6 matchup. “It was down to the wire and we were able to pull it out at the end.”

Both teams are athletic, strong on defense and feature many double-figure scorers. Crichton is 14-6, coming off a 115-66 pounding of Knoxville College on Jan. 31.

Center Marqueys Brown, a 6-foot-9 freshman, leads Crichton in scoring with a 14.3 average. He also pulls down 7.4 rebounds a game.

Other top players include 5-11 junior guard Jerranda Wheeler (13.2 points, 3.3 assists, 34 steals), 6-5 senior forward Emanuel Wimbush (11.6 points, 8.1 rebounds), 6-4 freshman guard Johnny McLawhorn (10.6 points, 2.7 assists) and 6-5 junior guard Jared Strode (10.4 points).

“They’re all explosive, they can all face the basket,” Bolen said. “(On defense) they extend the floor to 94 feet and pressure you all over the court.”

This time around, Crichton will be without 5-10 senior guard Andre Allen (13.9 points, 2.6 assists, 49 steals), who was suspended for the rest of the season for a violation of team rules.

Allen scored 17 points against the Cougars in the previous game.

“He’s a great player, very quick, but they have a lot of good players other than him,” Bolen said. “A lot of times when you lose somebody at this point of the year, your team will come together even more.”

McLawhorn, who missed the earlier game, should be in the lineup for Crichton.

“We’ve watched him on tape. He’s a very explosive player,” Bolen said.

Four of Crichton’s losses were road games. Meanwhile, the Cougars, 19-2 and ranked No. 2 in the latest NAIA Division I poll, have won four consecutive games, including the last three on the road.

They belted Voorhees 82-56 Wednesday behind 16 points from Marcus Hunter and 16 points and 11 rebounds from Nick Aldridge.

Andrew Lee, a 6-5 junior guard, leads MSU with 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Six-foot junior guard Anthony Pigram averages 15.8 points and has 33 steals on the campaign.

Other top players include 6-7 junior forward Aldridge (14.7 points, 5.9 rebounds), 6-7 senior forward Bo Harris (13.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 34 steals and 29 blocks on the season), 6-1 senior guard Tony Brown (11.5 points, 2.9 assists and 26 steals/season), 6-foot junior guard Hunter (10.2 points) and 6-8 senior forward Ermin Tarcin (10 points, 6.4 rebounds).

“We’ve been able to win five or six straight road games. Now we’re back in the armory, which is a different atmosphere,” Bolen said. “We’re progressing, and we have to keep going in that direction.”