March 9, 2008

Box Score

ORANGEBURG, S.C. - Antonio Bolton scored a game-high 30 points for Voorhees College, but the Tigers were not able to get around three 20-point outings for Mountain State, including 22 from tourney MVP Adron Marshall in an 82-68 Cougar victory in the Independent Men's Championship game at Claflin's Tullis Arena.

James Spencer added 20 for MSU as did Jarvis Jackson, while Terrence Woodberry had 10 rebounds for the Tigers, marking the only double-digit rebounding performance in the title game.

Bolton's jumper with 15:44 left in the first half put Voorhees out to an early 11-7 lead, but MSU used a 10-2 run over the next 3:29 to go up 19-13 on a Marshall dunk with 11:15 in the first.

Bolton would later nail a three at the 6:09 mark, cutting the lead back to two, 26-24, but with 1:12 to go in the frame, Ralph Legg knocked down two foul shots to extend the lead back to eight, 38-30.

Voorhees managed to cut back into the lead over the final minute, outscoring Mountain State 5-1 to the buzzer to send the Cougars to intermission with a 39-35 lead.

Spencer made it an eight-point game 4:35 into the second half with a pair of free throws, and with 9:48 left, Marshall got another dunk, this time jamming it home to put the Cougars up 60-49.

Woodberry got the Tigers back to within single digits with 2:09 left on a lay-up that made it 72-64, but on the other end, Spencer caught a pass at the top of the key, drove to the right block and rocked the rim to put MSU back in front by double-digits for the remainder of the game, as MSU finished on a 6-4 run.

The win sends Mountain State to the 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball tournament as the Independent automatic qualifier for the first time since the 2006 tournament.

Last season, the Cougars were an at-large qualifier.

All-Tournament Team
Doug Denton, Brescia
Jon Meriweather, Park
Antonio Bolton, Voorhees
Kenneth Nesmith, Morris
James Spencer, Mountain State
Tournament MVP: Adron Marshall, Mountain State
Coach of the Year: Bob Bolen, Mountain State