River States Conference

NEW ALBANY, Ind. - The IU Southeast Grenadiers (1-1) won their first game of the young season tonight over the Mid-Continent Cougars (1-2) 114-75 with senior guard Jazzmarr Ferguson leading the way to their fourth consecutive Joe B. and Denny Classic championship.

Ferguson (Louisville, Ky.) set the Grenadiers' single-game scoring record with 46 points breaking Charlie Elders record of 43 points against Bethel College (Tenn.) during the 1975-1976 season.

Ferguson's 46 points moves him past Larry Just to No. 8 on the Grenadiers' career scoring list with 1,336 points.

The frenetic pace of the first half and swarming defense from both teams caused the offenses to sputter and turn the ball over. Mid-Continent committed 16 turnovers and IU Southeast had eight.

The Cougars ended the game with 28 turnovers. At halftime, the score was tied at 42.

Ferguson took over the game on both ends. He finished the game with 46 points to go along with five assists and seven steals.

Grenadiers head coach Wiley Brown called Ferguson's night the best offensive game he has played for IU Southeast.

"Jazz is a player that can take over a game," coach Wiley Brown said. "These first two games, he has not played very good defense, You can tell that on film, but he has been scoring points. Jazz is a player that has to play both ways."

One play captured the Cougars' woeful night. Chris Tillman had a wide open lane to the basket, but missed the layup. The putback was missed by Chris Ferguson and the try off the rebound was missed Tillman again. The Grenadiers finally picked up the loose ball and Nick Gagel knocked down a three.

Though the Grenadiers dominated the Cougars, Brown sees room to improve. "We have the talent but we have to be smart with [the talent]," he said. "What I mean by that is we have to stop all the fouling. Those are silly fouls. We also have to start challenging shots."

The Grenadiers are back in action tomorrow in the second game of a doubleheader against Ivy Tech (0-1). That game begins at 3 p.m in the Southeast Activities Building. The first game begins at 1 p.m. and features Miami University-Hamilton (1-0) against Mid-Continent (1-2).