When the going got tough, Mountain State’s Devon Peterson got going.

Peterson scored 15 of his team-high 25 in the final 4:04 to lead NAIA Division I No. 10 MSU to an 89-83 win over Voorhees Thursday night at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

In a game where Voorhees led only once, but MSU’s largest lead was only eight, Peterson came up with play-after-play to help the Cougars escape with the six-point win.

His 3-pointer with 3:40 left gave the Cougars a 74-70 lead and after Garland McArthur’s 3 trimmed it back to one, Peterson answered with a 3-point play to restore the four-point lead.

The game stayed tight, but after Isaiah Hill’s two free throws gave MSU an 81-77 lead, Peterson made a pair of free throws with 1:21 to increase the lead to six.

He later made a pair of free throws and made a basket, then two more free throws to make it a three-possession 87-80 lead.

“Devon made some big plays down the stretch,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said. “And David (Nyarsuk, 14 points, 15 rebounds, 10 defensive) did a great job on the defensive end. Voorhees is athletic, quick and talented. This was a real good win.”

“One of our team leaders told me to do my thing, and that’s what I tried to do,” Peterson said. “I just wanted to do whatever I had to do to help us win.”

That team leader was Mark Williams, who struggled shooting the ball all night, but did have six assists.

“Mark and I have a great understanding of each other on the court,” Peterson said. “We know when one or the other is having a bad night. I knew he was having a bad night so I just tried to pick up the slack a little bit. He does the same thing when I’m struggling.”

The win gave Mountain State 20 wins (20-6) for the 16th consecutive season but the number eight was Bolen’s focus.

“That’s  an achievement but right now I’m just happy with our eighth straight win,” Bolen said. “We’ve won some tight games and that’s a good sign for the team.”

Nyarsuk finished perfect on the night, hitting all six of his shots from the floor and both his free throw attempts.

Hill had 19 points and seven rebounds and Cam Miller had 17 points, 12 in the second half.

The Cougars led 38-34 at the half, after jumping to an early 10-2 lead.

Voorhees’ McArthur, an all-Independent Region player, led all scorers with 32 points and seven rebounds. Henry Johnson had 13 points and Willie Waters III had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The game ended with a few fireworks, as Voorhees coach Michael Chaney exchanged words with Williams and then told Bolen he would not be making a return trip to Beckley. Order was quickly restored as both teams made their way to their respective dressing rooms.

MSU was 25 of 34 at the line — several attempts coming late when Voorhees was forced to foul and the Tigers made 14 of 24. Voorhees was charged with 25 fouls to MSU’s 20.

The Cougars outrebounded the Tigers 44-39 and shot 50.8 percent for the game (30 of 59). Voorhees was 32 of 79 for the game (40.5 percent).

“We held another team to 40 percent from the field,” Bolen said. “That’s one of the stats we look at first. That was a pretty good defensive job against (Voorhees).”

Peterson has extra motivation down the stretch as MSU is gunning for a 14th straight NAIA national tournament berth.

The former Kansas State player is hoping for a return to Kansas City for the national tournament.

“I still have a lot of people out there who took care of me when I was out there and I’m still tight with the coaching staff,” Peterson said. “I really want to go back to Kansas. I want to go back and win a championship. That would be special.”

MSU is now 4-1 against Independent Region foes.

The Cougars play an exhibition against Temple Baptist at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

— E-mail: demorrison@register-herald.com



MOUNTAIN STATE 89, VOORHEES 83

VOORHEES (14-7)

Brandon Coleman 1-5 1-2 3, Charles Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Garland McArthur 13-24 4-8 32, Terrick Phillips 4-14 0-1 8, Andre Datcher 2-9 0-0 6, Sam Dotson 3-7 1-2 8, Henry Johnson 4-8 5-7 13, Willie Waters III 4-11 3-4 11. Totals 32-79 14-24 83.

MOUNTAIN STATE(20-6)

Devon Peterson 10-15 4-7 25, Cam Miller 4-10 6-6 17, Mark Williams 0-9 3-6 3, Isaiah Hill 6-10 6-8 18, David Nyarsuk 6-6 2-2 14, Chris Price 1-4 2-2 4, Mantas Drungys 1-1 2-3 4, Bruce Komakech 0-1 0-0 0, Quinton Thomas 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 30-59 25-34 89.

Halftime—MSU 38-34. 3-Point Goals—Voorhees 5-21 (Coleman 0-2, McArthur 2-5, Phillips 0-5, Datcher 2-4, Dotson 1-4); MSU 4-15 (Peterson 1-4, Miller 3-6, Williams 0-4, Price 0-1). Fouled Out—Dotson. Rebounds—Voorhees 39 (Waters III 10); MSU 44 (Nyarsuk 15). Assists—Voorhees 18 (Johnson 6); MSU 14 (Williams 6). Total Fouls—Voorhees 25; MSU 20. A—1,028.