By Dave Morrison
Fresh off Saturday’s 60-point waxing of depleted Salem International, Mountain State University will look to keep the wheels cranking tonight when they host Bluefield College at 7 p.m. at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
It will be MSU’s final home game for over a month. The Cougars (8-0) won’t play at home again until Dec. 29, when they host Virginia Intermont.
MSU is averaging 103.1 points per game and are outscoring the opposition by 37.2 points per game.
The win over Salem, while impressive, looks even better in that the two leading scorers, Nick Aldridge and Alvin Mitchell, scored only a combined eight points, all by Aldridge.
Aldridge is still averaging 21.9 points per game. He is second on the team in rebounds (7.6) and assists (33).
Mitchell played 10 minutes Saturday and did not take a shot, but still averages 14.3 points per game.
“I think (Salem) saw how many points (Aldridge) was scoring and they ran a zone to try to shut him down,” Bolen said. “I thought he passed the ball well against the zone though and was instrumental in us getting a lot of easy shots.”
Andrew Lee has returned to form for MSU, averaging 12.3 points and 8 rebounds per game while Marcus Hunter (11.3) and Barry Wellington, who missed Saturday’s game attending a funeral, is at 10.4 and has a team-best 40 assists.
Hunter has been stellar of late, averaging 17.3 points in the last three games.
“Marcus has really been shooting the ball well and playing with a lot of energy,” Bolen said. “His play of late has been great.”
Rashad Nesbitt made his first start in place of Wellington and played well, with six points, five assists, four rebounds and eight steals.
“I have a lot of confidence in (Nesbitt),” Bolen said. “Barry will be starting at the point but we know that (Nesbitt) can come in and play.”
Brian Ormon is also coming on well off the bench. He had 13 points and 10 rebounds against Salem.
“Brian has done a tremendous job rebounding the ball,” Bolen said. “He’s had such a huge rebound-per-minute average. He leads the team in that category. He’s giving us a lift coming off the bench and dominating the boards.”
Ormon averages 6.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Bluefield (2-5) is the same high-octane team as usual, and is not afraid to shoot the three.
“Bluefield has tremendous quickness at all five positions and they can put five on the floor who can all shoot the three,” Bolen said. “Even their big men can shoot the ball.”
Big man Omar Reed (6-foot-6) leads the Rambling Rams, averaging 14.3 points and 8 rebounds per game. He is 8 of 19 on threes.
Another big man, 6-7 Marcus Johnson, is 7 of 17.
Carlton Shumate averages 13.5 for the Rams.
Despite their record, Bolen is concerned with a team that lost to Division I Tennessee Tech 85-78 (after leading 39-38 at the half) and fell to Lindsey Wilson 68-63 on the road.
“I think they’re probably as wide-open as they’ve ever been,” Bolen said. “With them (the record is) a reflection of the fact that they’ve played a tough schedule.”
MSU beat Bluefield (which finished 27-7 last season and went to the NAIA Division II national tournament) 110-90 last season.
The Cougars will play in the Currence Classic in Bluefield this weekend.
