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By Dan Stillwell
Register-Herald Sports Writer
Saddled with two early fouls, Yusuf Baker sat on the Mountain State bench.
He wasn’t happy.
“I was ready to get back out there, but coach (Bob Bolen) said to chill out,” the 6-foot-7 senior forward said. “He told me in the second half I’d be ready.”
Coach knew best.
Baker had two big slams and scored 20 second-half points to lift the Cougars to an 85-70 win over North Carolina Central Thursday night at the Raleigh County Armory.
MSU (4-0) was up 40-23 at halftime, but Central refused to fold and made several big runs.
The Eagles cut the lead to 12 points before Baker brought down the house with his second dunk on an inbounds pass from Tyrice Watkins.
“We practice that, but it doesn’t usually happen in a game,” Baker said. “The opportunity was there and I took advantage of it.”
Not as spectacular but equally important was another inbounds pass by Watkins to Baker in the lane with 6:57 remaining and the lead down to nine.
Baker laid the ball up, breaking an 8-0 NCC run, and the Cougars were able to bring the momentum back to their side.
“We were trying to regain our composure and that was a smart play by Tyrice,” Bolen said. “We got an easy one, and then we got a few stops down the stretch and extended our lead.”
Baker finished the game with 23 points, hitting 10-of-12 field goal attempts.
“Yusuf got into foul trouble but we were able to play well without him (in the first half),” Bolen said. “When we came back he had fresh legs and he played well offensively.”
The Cougars’ offense as a whole played well, shooting 50 percent (35-of-70) from the floor. They were 8-of-22 from the three-point line.
Guard Ralph Legg added 17 points, Adron Marshall had 11 and Watkins scored 10 to go with seven rebounds. Point guard Jarvis Jackson chipped in nine assists.
“We were using our dribble penetration to get good shots,” Bolen said. “When we take the proper shot, we’ll shoot a good percentage.”
It was a different story for Central, an NCAA Division II team from Durham, N.C.
The Eagles shot a miserable 25.7 percent from the floor in the first half, and while they more than doubled it in the second stanza (52.8), they did not make any of 19 three-point shots.
“I’ve never had a team that was 0-for-19,” coach Henry Dickerson said. “It wasn’t (the defense). We were just missing.”
The game counted as an exhibition for the Eagles, who officially open their season with games against ACC powerhouses Duke and Wake Forest.
Drew Johnson led Central with 21 points, followed by 17 from Jason Hervey and 14 from Jeffrey Hansley.
Hervey had eight rebounds as NCC won the battle of the boards 44-37.
“We’ve got a good team, but we have 10 guys who haven’t played in two years,” said Dickerson, a Beckley native and former Woodrow Wilson High School standout. “They were nervous and they got winded.
“Mountain State is a good team, no question, but when it’s your first game, it makes a difference. We just don’t know each other well.
“We won’t win, but if we can get (the same second-half performance) out of them, we’ll be competitive against Duke and Wake Forest.”
Mountain State returns to action Nov. 11 in a 4 p.m. game against Pikeville (Ky.).
— E-mail:
dstillwell@register-herald.com
North Carolina Central (0-0)
Bryan Ayala 3-9 0-0 6, Steve Randolph 1-8 0-0 2, Drew Johnson 7-16 7-7 21, Billy Wilson 3-11 0-0 6, Jason Hervey 8-11 1-2 17, Joshua Worthy 0-0 0-0 0, Tory Harper 0-1 0-0 0, Jeffrey Hansley 5-8 4-5 14, Chris Yashack 1-5 0-0 2, Warren Roberson 0-2 2-3 2, Tremine Holloway 0-0 0-0 0, Raheem Oshodi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-71 14-17 70.
Mountain State (4-0)
Ralph Legg 6-13 2-4 17, Tyrice Watkins 4-8 0-0 10, Jarvis Jackson 3-11 0-0 6, Adron Marshall 5-11 0-0 11, Yusuf Baker 10-12 3-6 23, Emmanuel Coulibaly 1-3 0-0 2, Aaron Owens 0-0 0-0 0, Renardo Dixon 5-9 2-2 14, Papa Gassama 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 35-70 7-13 85.
Halftime: MSU 40, NCC 23. Three-point goals: NCC 0-19 (Ayala 0-3, Randolph 0-5, Johnson 0-7, Wilson 0-1, Mayshack 0-3), MSU 8-22 (Legg 3-5, Watkins 2-3, Jackson 0-2, Marshall 1-4,l Baker 0-1, Coulibaly 0-2, Dixon 2-5). Rebounds: NCC 44 (Hervey 8, Roberson 8), MSU 37 (Watkins 7, Marshall 5, Gassama 5). Assists: NCC 13 (Ayala 6), MSU 23 (Jackson 9, Legg 5, Marshall 5). Fouls: NCC 16, MSU 17. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: NCC 17, MSU 12. |
