Mountain State’s 5-foot-7 point guard Rashad Nesbitt plays with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

“When other teams look at my size, they think I am the weak link,” Nesbitt said.

No one stood taller Saturday than the senior.

Nesbitt, filling in for starter Barry Wellington, who was out of town attending the funeral of his aunt, was certainly no weak link in the Cougars 98-38 rout of Salem International at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

Nesbitt had eight steals to go along with six points, five assists and four rebounds in the victory that raised MSU’s record to 8-0.

“What I have to do is play aggressive defense,” Nesbitt said. “I was a little nervous at the beginning of the game. When I played defense and got a couple of early steals, I settled down and my game just came to me.”

The pint-sized point did just that, getting a steal and easy lay-in during a 10-0 run to start the game and making very few mistakes thereafter.

“(Nesbitt) played great today,” said wing Marcus Hunter, who led the Cougars with 22 points. “He’s the one who got us motivated to play today. When coach announced the starters, we were all pumped up. And I know (Nesbitt). We played JUCO ball against each other so I was familiar (with his game).”

Coach Bob Bolen was happy with Nesbitt, who played a team-best 31 minutes in the game.

“He really got us started with his defense,” Bolen said. “And he played point guard like a true point guard, looking to get his teammates involved.

“I was real happy that he played so well. (Nesbitt) works hard every day in practice. He has a great attitude, he works hard and he puts the team first. I was happy he got the opportunity and made the most of it.”

Several other Cougars followed suit.

Andrew Lee and Brian Ormon had double doubles. Lee had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Ormon added 13 and 10 off the bench.

Winston Robinson also had 14 points for MSU.

Salem was a team in disarray. The coaching staff quit earlier in the week and leading scorer Rio Berkley (29.5 ppg) was suspended.

“We can’t really worry about what the other team is doing, or what’s going on,” Bolen said. “We needed to come out and take care of business and we did that.”

MSU led 51-21 at the break and limited the Tigers to just 17 second-half points. In the game, the Cougars forced two shot-clock violations, a pair of backcourt violations and took two charges, one short of the three that the Cougars shoot for per game.

Still, it was a step in the right direction defensively.

“We had more intensity on defense,” Bolen said. “All five guys on the court played with intensity on the defensive end and it stayed that way until the final buzzer. And that’s a good sign.”

MSU led in all categories, shooting over 50-percent for the sixth time in eight games, outrebounding Salem 48-28, leading in assists 20-8 and steals 15-1.

MSU was also a perfect 13-13 at the free throw line.

As for Nesbitt, he’ll take whatever role he gets with the team.

“I just want to help this team any way I can,” Nesbitt said. “As long as we are winning, that is the important thing.”

The Cougars will play at home Tuesday night, hosting Bluefield College at 7 p.m.

— E-mail: demorrison@

register-herald.com



No. 2 MOUNTAIN STATE 98, SALEM 38

SALEM (0-3) 

Ivan Jovicic 4-13 3-3 13, Samuel Smith 3-12 3-4 9, Daminic Campbell 3-14 0-0 8, Milorad Adasevic 3-14 0-0 8, Demetrius Brinson 2-7 0-0 4, Josh Marshall 0-2 0-0 0, Tori Patton 2-5 0-0 4, Maxiam Zakanyan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-54 6-7 38.

MOUNTAIN STATE (8-0) 

Rashad Nesbitt 3-5 0-0 6, Marcus Hunter 8-12 2-2 22, Andrew Lee 6-8 4-4 16, Nick Aldridge 4-9 0-0 8, Winston Robinson 5-9 4-4 14, Adison Mosqueara 3-5 0-0 6, Mundrell Young 0-1 0-0 0, Deandre Duncan 1-4 0-0 2, Vedrin Zivic 1-2 2-2 5, Brian Ormon 6-13 1-1 13, Dwayne Alston 2-4 0-0 4, Alvin Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Paul Sturgess 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 40-76 13-13 98.

Halftime—MSU 51-21. 3-Point Goals—Salem 4-14 (Jovicic 2-4, Smith 0-2, Campbell 2-8); MSU 5-19 (Hunter 4-7, Lee 0-1, Aldridge 0-1, Robinson 0-3, Mosquera 0-1, Young 0-1, Duncan 0-3, Zivic 1-1, Sturgess 0-1). Fouled Out—Adasevic. Rebounds—Salem 28 (Brinson 7); MSU 48 (Lee 10, Ormon 10). Assists—Salem 8 (Jovicic 2, Marshall 2); MSU 20 (Nesbitt 5). Total Fouls—Salem 13; MSU 7. Technicals—None. A—1,204.