"We've been working hard since day 1 and it's really panned out, heading to the Final 4. Take it 1 game at a time. But words can't describe the feeling I have right now," said senior guard Adron Marshall who scored 15 points and added 7 rebounds. James Spencer was the game's high scorer, with 20 points, to go along with 9 rebounds.

The last time MSU advanced to the Final Four was in 2004, when they beat Concordia to win the National Title.

Saturday afternoon the Cougars beat Azusa Pacific 72-51 to qualify for the third Final Four in school history. MSU also made it to the semis in 2003, when they fell to Concordia in the championship.

#5 seeded Mountain State will play undefeated #1 Georgetown of Kentucky Monday night in the semifinals. MSU defeated Georgetown in both the '03 and '04 semifinals, when the Cougars were the #1 seed.

"I'm excited, but I'm not excited, because we've still got 2 more. This is just a piece of the cake, we want the whole cake. So that's what we're focusing on is that ring. Bring it back to Beckley," said Senior Tyrice Watkins after the Quarterfinal win over Azusa Pacific.

"It feels great, knowing that we got 7 seniors, coach Barksdale, Bolen, working so hard. We've been working hard since August. It feels wonderful," added point guard Jarvis Jackson, who scored 17 points while serving up 4 assists for his teammates. Fellow senior Jason McGriff had 6 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocked shots and 2 steals for the Cougars.

MSU fell behind by as many as 7 in the first half, but tied it up before halftime, and ran away in the 2nd half, outscoring the Cougars from California 40-19. Beckley's Cougars shot 14-of-28 from the field in the half (50%), while shooting nearly 44% for the game. They also made 11 of 25 three pointers (42.3%), and only missed one free throw (11-12) in the game.

"This is nice to go to the final 4. Our kids are excited. It was a tremendous team effort. You can't single 1 person out. Everybody stepped up and I'm just real proud of them right now," said Cougar head coach Bob Bolen after Saturday's win.

The semifinal game between Mountain State and Georgetown is schdeduled to tip-off at 6:30 central time on Monday night, 7:30pm in West Virginia. It will be televised on CSTV, which is now avaiable on Suddenlink Digital Cable's Sports Tier.