James Spencer did his job, in a variety of ways.

Spencer scored a game-high 32 points, 18 in the second half, in Mountain State University’s 91-67 win over West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

A Los Angeles native and transfer from Wyoming, Spencer scored 18 of MSU’s 26 points in the first 10:34 of the second half. He finished the day 14-of-22 from the field.

And his points were scored from all over the floor.

“He is able to score when he gets the ball, either going to the basket or from the outside,” Cougars coach Bob Bolen said. “The second half flowed around him.”

“My job on this team is to be a scorer,” said Spencer, a 6-foot-4 senior guard. “My teammates were able to get me the ball.”

The Cougars (2-0) used their size and speed advantages to take a 46-23 halftime lead.

The closest the Bobcats got was 4-3 on Jared Chafin’s three-pointer barely three minutes into the game.

After that, MSU went on a 23-1 run to take control for good. Down 27-4, Wesleyan didn’t hit its second field goal until a layup by Ryan Hoehner with 7:27 left before the break, and didn’t reach double figures until E.J. Lucas barely beat the shot clock with a two that made it 30-11 with 7:00 to play.

Wesleyan shot 8-of-31 (25.8 percent) in the first half, compared to the Cougars’ 20-of-45 (44.4 percent).

“Size, speed, quickness — they have everything,” Wesleyan coach Bill Lilly said. “They have a very, very good team.”

“We got off to a quick start,” Bolen said. “I thought defensively, in the first half especially, we played really well. Less than 48 hours after the last one (a 76-72 exhibition loss at Morehead State on Thursday), I was pleased with the quick start.”

Bolen wasn’t as pleased with his team’s defense in the second half, although the Cougar lead hovered in the 30-point range most of the way. The Bobcats outscored MSU’s second line 14-6 in the game’s final 3:25.

“We have to figure out a way to play 40 minutes a game,” Bolen said.

Chafin led the Bobcats with 21 points and Lucas added 13. Chris Smith pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

MSU scoring was balanced after Spencer’s 32. Jarvis Jackson, Tyrice Watkins and Denzel Lyles all scored nine points. Ralph Legg dished out nine assists.

The game was an exhibition for Wesleyan, which also has exhibitions against Eastern Kentucky and VMI. The Bobcats begin their regular season in a tournament at Fairmont State Nov. 16-17. They will play Glenville State the first night and the host Falcons the next.

MSU, meanwhile, hosts NAIA foe University of the Cumberlands at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Patriots lost a 71-60 exhibition Saturday at Mississippi State of the SEC.

— E-mail:

gfauber@register-herald.com



Mountain State University 91, W.Va. Wesleyan 67

W.Va. Wesleyan

Steve Nichols 2-10 1-1 7, E.J. Lucas 4-13 5-6 13, Jared Chafin 6-9 4-6 21, Ryan Hoehner 4-9 1-2 10, Chris Smith 3-7 2-4 8, Jerel Thomas 1-4 0-1 2, Kenny Baston 0-1 0-0 0, Karolis Stupnianek 1-2 0-0 2, Grant Burton 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 23-58 13-20 67.

Mountain State University (2-0)

James Spencer 14-22 3-6 32, Jarvis Jackson 3-6 0-0 9, Tyrice Watkins 3-9 0-0 8, Adron Marshall 4-12 0-0 9, Jason McGriff 1-5 0-2 2, Ralph Legg 1-4 0-0 3, Floyd Woods 0-1 0-0 0, Denzel Lyles 3-3 1-3 9, Daniel Scott 1-1 0-0 2, Vedrin Zivic 0-2 2-2 2, Vaso Aleksic 0-2 0-0 0, Papa Gassama 2-4 0-0 4, Keron Jackson 2-4 0-0 4, Rod Green 0-3 0-0 0, Ermin Tarcin 3-3 0-1 6. Totals: 37-81 6-14 91.

Halftime: MSU 46, WVW 23. Three-point shots: WVW 8-20 (Nichols 2-7, Lucas 0-2, Chafin 5-8, Hoehner 1-1, Baston 0-1, Stupnianek 0-1), MSU 11-36 (Spencer 1-7, J. Jackson 3-5, Watkins 2-5, Marshall 1-6, Legg 1-4, Woods 0-1, Lyles 2-2, Zivic 0-2, Aleksic 0-1, K. Jackson 1-3). Rebounds: WVW 40 (Smith 10), MSU 48 (Marshall 8, Gassama 8). Assists: WVW 15 (Chafin 4), MSU 28 (Legg 7). Turnovers: WVW 17, MSU 7. Fouls: WVW 15, MSU 18. Fouled out: none.