By Jim Workman
The Mountain State University basketball team is still unbeaten at 21-0 and ranked No. 1 in the NAIA.
But the Cougars are apparently no match for Old Man Winter.
The MSU home game scheduled for Tuesday was postponed. The contest with visiting Hiwassee College will now be played at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Hiwassee chose not to make the trip to Beckley from Madisonville, Tenn., with the impending winter weather approaching.
“This is the first time that we’ve postponed a (home) game in years,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said. “The visiting teams usually come in and stay in a hotel the night before. Hiwassee had decided to come in on the day of the game instead. But (Tuesday), their athletic director made a decision and wouldn’t let them come with the weather reports we’re getting.”
With the Big Atlantic Classic occupying the convention center last week and no road contests scheduled, MSU did not play any games, essentially taking the week off from competition.
“It’s sometimes hard to get games in during February,” Bolen said.
The MSU game scheduled for Thursday at Emmanuel College has also been postponed. It will be played Wednesday, Feb. 24.
“We would have been heading south (today),” Bolen said. “But with the expected ice storm, it wouldn’t be wise to travel (to Franklin Springs, Ga.). Emmanuel didn’t have a game scheduled and they wanted to move it, too, instead of risking the travel.”
Emmanuel is 20-5, with one of its losses coming at MSU, 88-73 on Jan. 4. The Lions are just outside the Top 25, listed third among other teams receiving votes.
The Cougars are still scheduled to host Lambuth on Saturday.
“The weather should be cleared up by then,” Bolen said. “Right now, we’re getting some good practices in and we’re preparing for Saturday.”
Notes: Mountain State has now been mentioned in the top 5 of the NAIA D-I poll for the last 39 straight polls, dating back to mid-season of the 2006-07 polls. The Cougars have been the top team for the last seven polls and a total of 46 times since 2000, the most of any program. MSU collected all 12 first-place votes and 312 total points in this week’s poll.
— E-mail: jworkman@
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