Published: March 20, 2008 11:47 pm      

Elite Eight on line for MSU today

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Now that the first one is out of the way, Mountain State (31-2) moves on to the NAIA national tournament Sweet 16.

Standing in the way of the Cougars’ first trip to the Elite Eight since 2005 is old tourney foe Wayland Baptist of Texas (20-12). Wayland upset No. 12 seed Martin Methodist Wednesday 89-85.

The two teams tussle in today’s tournament opener at 10 a.m. (EDT). Paul Van Scott will have the play-by-play on WTNJ 105.9-FM.

Wednesday’s 85-76 double overtime win over unseeded Olivet Nazarene in the tournament opener “was a big win for us,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said.

“In this tournament, seeding, records, that doesn’t matter. All these teams are good.

“You win, you move on. The bottom line is half the teams that came here are going home and we’re still playing.”

Mountain State is 3-0 all-time vs. Wayland Baptist, beating the Pioneers three straight seasons in the national tournament. That streak started in 2002, when No. 7 seed MSU won 85-71 in a first-round matchup. In 2003, when the Cougars were a No. 4 seed, MSU won 94-85, and in 2004, top-seeded Mountain State beat Wayland 84-66 en route to the NAIA national title.

Other than history, that will have little effect on today’s matchup.

This Pioneer team features a post-dominated team that is deep in the interior, much like Olivet Nazarene.

“They’re not as deliberate as Olivet was on offense,” Bolen said. “They do have five posts they can alternate in and out (at the four and five spots). Offensively, they are going to attack the basket more than Olivet did. We’re going to have to help on defense and cut off their lanes to the basket.”

Wayland made just 162 three-pointers on the season and the Pioneers were just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc in their win over Martin Methodist.

By contrast, MSU had more than 300 treys this season. In fact, Mountain State’s James Spencer, Adron Marshall and Ralph Legg combined for more treys (167) than Wayland has as a team.

Senior Danny Storey is the Pioneers’ top player. The 6-foot-7, 245-pound post averaged 14.5 points and 10.9 rebounds on the year. The school’s first career 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound player, Storey had nine points and 11 rebounds for the Pioneers on Wednesday.

The Pioneers lost starting wing Lee Berend to a broken hand in a 91-86 quarterfinal win over University of Science & Arts in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament.

Berend averaged 7.1 points and had 30 threes, second on the team.

Production was paramount for the Pioneers in that game, and from reserves who rarely score. Two players who averaged a combined 4.5 points during the regular season came off the bench to combine for 28 points.

Big B.J. Latham, a 6-10, 325-pound beast, scored 13 points and had five boards after averaging 1.5 and 1.2 in the regular season. Junior Jon Hurt, a 6-4 guard, had a game-high 15 points in 19 minutes. During the regular season he averaged 3.0 per game.

The Pioneers’ other four starters are all capable of scoring in double digits.

Jason Griffin (6-2, Jr.) and Kris Hartley (5-10, Sr.) had 14 points each in the win over Martin Methodist and Tony Jones (6-foot-7 senior three man) had 10 after averaging 10.4 points.

“Their three man (Jones) resembles (former Woodrow and Marshall standout) Tamar Slay,” Bolen said. “He is 6-foot-7, but he’s long and lean and he really plays like a 6-9 guy. You put him at the three and combine him with the size they have inside, it’s a formidable matchup.”

Of course, MSU is coming off a game where it got key production off the bench, even if it wasn’t reflected on the stat sheet.

With starters Tyrice Watkins and Jason McGriff in trouble, Ermin Tarcin and Papa Gassama gave MSU key minutes off the bench. Tarcin had 13 points and nine rebounds, but Gassama didn’t score.

However, he did lock down on Olivet’s Phil French late in the game and eventually got him fouled out of the game.

Legg also was key. He didn’t score, but the 6-foot guard took a charge and got a key rebound over taller players in the second overtime to help the Cougars get that win.

Spencer and Jarvis Jackson combined to score 47 points Wednesday (Jackson had 24, Spencer 23), and they scored all 13 points in the second overtime.

“Jarvis has really played well (in the postseason),” Bolen said. “He has been a big spark for us. We expect (Spencer) to play well. And Adron has been solid (17 points, 10 rebounds before fouling out Wednesday). We know Wayland has an outstanding team. Look at the way they play Wednesday. We’re looking forward to getting back at it.”

As long as they are alive in the tournament, the Cougars will play the first game each day.

The winner of today’s game will play either No. 13 seed Azusa Pacific or No. 4 seed LSU Shreveport at 3 p.m. (EDT) Saturday.

The winner there would play in the Final Four at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) Monday, with the championship game tipping off at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Final Four and the championship game will be broadcast live on CSTV.

— E-mail:

demorrison@register-herald.com