Published: February 16, 2009 11:50 pm      

No. 5 Mountain State hosts Salem International tonight

After a loss at Lindsey Wilson last week that dropped Mountain State to No. 5 in the latest NAIA Division I poll, the Cougars will try to get back on track tonight against Salem International of the West Virginia Conference.

The Cougars did beat Allen University on Saturday.

“I agree that we haven’t played as well as we have been playing,” Bolen said. “We’ve had some people sick and banged up and we had a long stretch on the road where we had a lot more away games than home games. Sometimes that can take a toll. I don’t know if that’s what’s happening. But we have three tough games this week and two are at home.”

Mountain State (21-3) needs an impressive win at home to get back on track, after less than Cougar-like showings in their last three outings. Two, however, were wins.

Salem is in the midst of a 2-20 season, but the Tigers did take NCAA Division II No. 18 Alderson-Broaddus to the wire in a 77-70 loss Feb. 7. Two days later they were blown out by Concord at home, 90-69.

“They got a player (Demetrick Walker) eligible at the semester and since he has been playing, they have played a lot of close games,” Bolen said. “They have size, they have talent and I think they are a lot better than their record indicates.”

MSU is led by versatile Andrew Lee, who is leading the team in scoring (16.3) and rebounding (7.4). Lee also leads the team in steals and blocked shots.

“Andrew has been solid from day one,” Bolen said. “He works hard every day and has a great attitude. He’s a just a great player. He plays the game right and has been very beneficial to our team.”

Five other players are averaging in double digits, including A.J. Pigram (15.4), Nick Aldridge (15.3), Bo Harris (12.9), Tony Brown (10.7) and Marcus Hunter (10.0).

Aldridge, whose production has been down because of a flu bug that has spread through the roster, had been playing well until that point, with double-doubles against Southern Wesleyan (20 points and 10 rebounds) and Crichton (22, 15).

“He’s about 90 percent,” Bolen said. “Before he got sick, he was playing at a very high level. The last two games, he’s just gutted it out for us. He gave us what he could, sometimes when his temperature was 103. He isn’t 100 percent but I think you will see a big improvement in his play.”

Salem is led by Walker, a 6-foot-1 sophomore who is averaging 19.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Chris Carey, a 6-5 senior and the son of West Virginia University women’s coach Mike Carey, a former Salem head coach, is averaging 17.4 ppg. Three players are averaging just under 10 points per game — Ivan Jovcic (9.9), 5-11 sophomore Ricky Dunham (9.5) and 6-8 senior Travis Sinclair (9.3).

MSU enters the game averaging 95.8 points per game, while giving up 72.1.

Salem is averaging 66.7 ppg while giving up 82.6.

Bolen needs six wins to reach 400 for his career, meaning the soonest he could reach the milestone would be the Cougars’ first game of the Independent Regional Tournament.

MSU is on the road at Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) Thursday night in advance of Saturday’s meeting with No. 19 Lee University (20-6).

— E-mail: demorrison@

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