By Dan Stillwell
Register-Herald Sports Writer
Paul “Jitterbug” Wright made The University of the Cumberlands Patriots dance his tune.
Wright exploded for 28 points as Mountain State University turned back its Kentucky NAIA rival 82-65 Saturday at the Raleigh County Armory.
“This was Paul’s first appearance at the Armory and he shot the ball real well,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said. “He had a great game.”
Wright, playing in just his second game of the season following a preseason injury, scored 15 of his points in a 22-11 run that ended the first half.
The Cumberlands (4-5) had led the cold-shooting Cougars 31-22 before Wright caught fire.
A senior, Wright had transferred to MSU from Knoxville College, where he once scored 60 points in a game.
Fully recovered from a knee ligament tear he had incurred at Knoxville, the 6-foot-2 guard was expected to be a primary cog in the MSU offense this season.
But Wright dislocated an elbow in the preseason against Charleston and was unable to play before the Cougars’ game last Monday at Faulkner (Ala.).
He scored 16 points in the Cougars’ 70-69 loss — their first of the season.
Although Bolen classified Wright at 90 percent recovered going into the Cumberlands game, he gave an impressive performance. He hit 9-of-16 shots from the floor, including 4-of-10 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Wright also was 6-of-6 at the foul line and chipped in six rebounds.
“I’m not playing to my potential yet. I’ve still got more to come,” he said.
Watching his teammates play without him in the earlier contests was hard.
“Basketball is my love, and not getting to play was eating me alive,” Wright said. “But I got my opportunity and I made the best of it.”
The Cumberlands made a 13-3 run, keyed by 3-pointers from Mike Gibson, Chad Byron and Sam Brown, to go up 31-22 with just less than seven minutes remaining in the first half.
Wright ignited, scoring on a jumper and on the break. Reserve Petroslav Zafirov hit a trifecta for the Cougars, but the Patriots answered with a 5-0 run of their own.
Back came Wright with two foul shots, a pair of treys and a beautiful drive off a Tyrice Watkins pass as MSU went up 44-39 at intermission.
“I recruited Paul and I (coached) against him two years when he was at Knoxville,” Patriots coach Don Butcher said. “He’s done this to me before. He’s just a weapon.”
Wright, who had 19 first-half points, cooled somewhat as the game continued. Mountain State’s defense did not, however, as it held The Cumberlands to just 26 points in the final 20 minutes.
“We won the game on the defensive end,” Bolen said. “We held a team who can shoot that well to 30 percent shooting in the second half.”
The Patriots made just 10 of 30 shots in the half, including 3-of-16 from the 3-point line. They were shooting 45 percent from the arc coming into the game.
The Cumberlands did get balanced scoring — 15 points from Byron, 14 from Brown, 12 from Gibson and 10 from Darnell Howell.
“We don’t have a go-to guy like Wright, so we have to spread it around,” Butcher said. Our post play has been better than it was today.”
The Patriots got little scoring from their big men and were outrebounded 44-38.
MSU guard Adron Marshall had a great floor game with 13 assists and eight rebounds to go with 10 points.
“Adron played the point for the first time and had no turnovers,” Bolen said.
Guard Ralph Legg scored 13 points, Yusuf Baker contributed nine rebounds and seven points, and Tyrice Watkins, also back from an injury, added nine points for the Cougars, who play at Pikeville College Tuesday.
— E-mail:
dstillwell@register-herald.com
Mountain State University 82,
University of the Cumberlands 65
UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS (4-5)
Chad Byron 5-11 1-1 15, Sam Brown 6-15 0-0 14, Darnell Howell 4-12 2-6 10, Mike Gibson 5-9 0-0 12, Chris Simmons 1-3 2-4 4, Leslie Delk 2-3 0-0 6, Jason Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Dustin Fothergill 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Fitzgerald 1-6 0-0 2, Ryan Williams 1-2 0-1 2. Totals: 25-61 5-12 65.
MOUNTAIN STATE UNIVERSITY (7-1)
Ralph Legg 6-15 0-0 13, Adron Marshall 4-11 2-4 13, Paul Wright 9-16 6-6 28, Yusuf Baker 3-6 1-4 7, Ermin Tarzin 4-6 0-2 8, Tyrice Watkins 3-5 1-2 9, Jarvis Jackson 2-5 0-0 4, Papa Gassama 0-1 0-2 0, Petroslav Zafirov 1-1 0-1 3. Totals: 32-66 10-21 82.
Halftime: MSU 44, UC 39. Three-point goals: UC 10-33 (Byron 4-9, Brown 2-9, Howell 0-8, Gibson 2-4, Delk 2-3), MSU 8-25 (Legg 1-6, Marshall 0-2, Wright 4-10, Baker 0-2, Tarzin 0-1, Watkins 2-2, Jackson 0-1, Zafirov 1-1). Rebounds: UC 38 (Gibson 8, Fitzgerald 6), MSU 44 (Baker 9, Marshall 8, Tarzin 7, Wright 6). Assists: UC 12 (Brown 5), MSU 20 (Marshall 13). Turnovers: UC 15, MSU 8. Fouls: UC 17, MSU 17. Fouled out: MSU (Baker, Tarzin). Technical fouls: UC (bench)
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