Tall tale: Red Wolves fall short against Cougars
Tall tale: Red Wolves fall short against Cougars
BECKLEY, W.Va. - This tall tale proved all too true for the Red Wolves.
The Indiana University East men's basketball team fell 103-77 on Jan. 19 at Mountain State University in a matchup of teams ranked in the top 25 in their respective national polls.
The NAIA Division II Red Wolves fell to 17-5.
The NAIA Division I No. 15 Cougars, the NAIA Division I national runners-up last season, are 13-6.
Mountain State's size advantage made the difference. The Cougars scored 70 points in the paint, outrebounded IU East 57-34 and scored 28 second chance points.
"You don't see teams with that talent and that size at our level," said IU East coach Mark Hester. "We would be talking about them and (NCAA Division I Top 25 program) Murray State if they were in the Ohio Valley Conference."
"They have size, they have talent, and they are very good at what they do."
Sophomore guard Matt Trimnell (Seymour, Ind./Seymour High School) scored 21 points for IU East.
Junior guard Marcus Isaac (Indianapolis, Ind./Purdue University North Central) added 20.
David Nyarsuk, the NAIA Division I leader in blocks and one of Mountain State's two seven-footers, had 27 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.
The Cougars scored the last five points of the first half and opened the second half with a 10-2 run to break the game open.
The biggest drama of the second half: The Red Wolves prevented the Cougars from scoring 105 points, a point total that would have resulted in free chicken sandwiches for the Mountain State fans.
Click here for the IU East-Mountain State box score
IU East plays at Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent Alice Lloyd College on Jan. 21.
Tipoff time has been changed to 1 p.m.
NOTE: Mountain State, like IU East, is a member of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, but competes as an independent in men's basketball. The game was a non-conference contest for IU East.