Mark Carollo had a game-high 24 points in the Mountaineers' loss.
EOU Falls in Sweet Sixteen to College of the Ozarks, 65-42
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Corey Stone scored 19 points and College of the Ozarks held Eastern Oregon to just 29 percent shooting from the field in posting a 65-42 victory over the Mountaineers in the second round of the NAIA Division II men’s basketball tournament Friday night.
Eastern Oregon, which two nights earlier had registered the first postseason victory in school history, ended its season 26-6.
Mark Carollo led the Mountaineers with 23 points, 13 of which came in the first half when the Mountaineers opened up a lead of as many as 11 points. His brother, Paul, grabbed 23 rebounds, tying the NAIA single-game tournament record.
The host Bobcats limited the Mountaineers to just one field goal over the final eight minutes of the first half to cut an 11-point deficit down to one, 24-23.
College of the Ozarks, the tournament host, woke up a restless crowd to begin the second half, going on a 23-6 run to take a commanding 46-30 lead. The Ozarks defense held EOU scoreless for nearly seven minutes during that stretch. EOU never recovered.
The Mountaineers hit just 16 of 54 field goal attempts and were just 4 of 22 from beyond the arc. Despite outrebounding the Bobcats, the Mounties were hurt by 25 turnovers.
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) recorded the third upset of the second round with the win over over seventh seed Eastern Oregon. The 42 points scored set a new tournament record, breaking the old mark of 44 set back in 2004 (King-Tenn.) and 2003 (Taylor-Ind.)The 17th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).
Ozarks improves to 27-5 on the season and is the second MCAC team in the Elite Eight (Bellevue). They will play defending champion MidAmerica Nazarene tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. The 32-team, single-elimination tournament concludes on Tuesday, March 18.