The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Sports

January 7, 2009

Cougars have had bigger victories

By Dave Morrison

On the surface, I’d like to say that Mountain State’s 85-70 win over Cumberlands Tuesday night was one of the program’s best wins.

It was No. 1 (MSU) vs. No. 2 (UC) and the Patriots had taken apart MSU 89-73 in Williamsburg, Ky., less than two months earlier.

I’d like to say it was a great win for the program.

But I can’t.

A good win?

Definitely.

Top 10?

Maybe.

But as the MSU program has grown, the expectations have risen.

After all, Bob Bolen’s program, the one he started from scratch back in 1994, has played for three national titles and won one in the last five years.

Isn’t a program like that supposed to win big games? Especially against a team it has dominated lately?

No, the wins I remember as monumental since I’ve been covering the Cougars were over previous No. 1s like Life and Georgetown. Then there was MSU going to Concordia in 2004 and beating Concordia and Azusa-Pacific on back-to-back nights. That was after Concordia had beaten MSU in the national title game in 2003. There was the win at The Master’s, also in California.

The team’s first national tournament win over Southern Nazarene in 1999 and the national title win over Concordia in 2004.

Those were the wins that started the team up the ladder to elite status in the NAIA.

When Georgetown came to Beckley and lost in 1997, the Tigers had beaten MSU (then The College of West Virginia) six straight times.

Mountain State was nowhere near the program it is now.

It was the same with Life University.

A top-notch program came to Beckley and walked away with a loss.

Look at it this way: It would be like a no-name program hosting MSU and knocking off the Cougars.

That, obviously, doesn’t happen very often.

Bolen didn’t suggest it was a monumental win, but he did find the glass half full.

“It was a big win for this team because they had beaten us earlier,” he said. “This is a pretty new group of guys and it showed that we can come back from losing to a team and get a win. That is something positive, something that can help this team grow.”

Now, if Mountain State beats No. 10 Lee on Saturday, at Lee, I might put that in the top five wins all-time.

Why?

Circumstances.

There will be 3,000 fans at the game. Lee is a Top 10 program and is playing at home. This MSU team hasn’t proved it can beat a Top 10 on the road. Lee beat MSU in Beckley last year and coach Tommy Brown returns several players from that squad.

The deck is stacked. And while MSU should win games like this, if it is a true No. 1, this team is still relatively untested on the road.

During this three-game stretch where MSU is playing No. 21 (Lindsey Wilson), No. 2 (Cumberlands) and No. 10 (Lee), each of those squads beat MSU the last time they played. Well, the Cougars are now 2-0 and a win over Lee would solidify the Cougars’ hold on No. 1, a position no team has held for more than a week this season.

Time will tell.

But I have to agree with Ermin Tarcin’s assessment after Tuesday’s win and say this team is not ready for the national tournament just yet. Beat Lee and prove it can win on the opponent’s home court and I might view that glass as half full, too.

Beating No. 2 was nice, but hardly monumental.

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