By Dave Morrison
First it was Vedrin Zivic. Then Deandre Duncan. Then Winston Robinson. Now it’s Marcus Hunter.
The two-guard at Mountain State has been a revolving door.
Hunter is trying to slam that door shut, what with his performance over the last couple games.
But then, to MSU coach Bob Bolen, it’s not necessarily who starts but who finishes the game.
“We’re still searching for a combination that can start out a game with high energy,” Bolen said. “We haven’t found that rotation yet. But the season is just seven games long.”
The Cougars (7-0) will have a chance to show a new combination today when they host Salem International at 4 p.m. It will be homecoming at MSU.
Bolen listed probables for today’s game as Rashad Nesbitt at the point, Hunter and Robinson at the wings and Andrew Lee and Nick Aldridge inside.
That means two players who had started the first seven games — Barry Wellington and Alvin Mitchell — won’t be in the starting five.
Wellington had been out of town attending a funeral and Bolen gave no reason why Mitchell wasn’t among the probables.
Salem comes into the game 0-2, having lost to NCAA Division II No. 2 Bellarmine (92-75) and highly-touted West Virginia State (115-78).
However, the Tigers trailed Bellarmine by just four, 46-42, at the half.
Salem is led by former Capital High standout Rio Berkley (29.5 ppg, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists).
“Bellarmine has one of the top teams in NCAA Division II and they had trouble containing him,” Bolen said. “Both West Virginia State and Bellarmine are highly ranked and they had trouble with him. He is a tremendous scorer.”
Berkley has hit 9 of his 18 three-point attempts and 12 of 13 free throws.
He isn’t the only scorer on the team, though.
Ivan Jovicic is scoring at a 12.5 clip and Kendall Allison 11.0. Allison also averages 9.0 rebounds per outing.
“They have outstanding guards,” Bolen said. “I’m sure they’re going to come in here ready to play.”
Aldridge leads the Cougars in scoring (23.6), rebounding (8.6) and is second on the team in assists (30). Among the other probables, Lee is averaging 12.4 and 7.7 rebounds, Hunter 10.0 (and a team-high 25 threes) and Robinson 8.6.
Nesbitt will be making his first start. He has scored just two points and has five assists in five games this season.
“I don’t put much stock in who is starting,” Bolen said. “We’re just trying to find a rotation, but we have been successful up to this point. I don’t think who starts is as big a deal as everyone else does.
“There is a point in the season where you’d like to have a consistent rotation. But there isn’t a magic wand you can wave and that’s the eight who are going to play. I think how you practice and how hard you work that determines that.”
MSU is currently No. 2 in the NAIA Division I poll, but No. 1 Robert Morris has lost. The first regular-season poll comes out Dec. 7.
