T-Birds Hold Off Southern Oregon In Overtime
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. - Ben Pawlak hit a floating 12 footer with 4.4 seconds left in overtime to push Cascade to a 100-99 victory over Southern Oregon in CCC action.
The win is the third in a row and 10th overall for the surging Thunderbirds (10-6, 3-5 CCC), who now have the most wins in a season since their 2002-03 CCC co-championship team.
The game started as a seesaw contest, with 8 lead changes in the first 15 minutes. With SOU holding a slim 36-35 lead at the 5:50 mark, Cascade would reel off a 24 to 6 run to close out the half, which included 3 three pointers from Cornell Littlejohn in the final 1:06 of the half.
The 59-42 advantage that the hosts enjoyed at the break began to erode in the second period, as the Raiders methodically climbed back in thanks to the slashing play of Eli Thonrton and Jarrad Childs. SOU tied the ball game at 1:18 on a Childs drive and score. After two T-Bird free throws, Thornton answered with a layup. Pawlak's winning attempt at the buzzer was back iron and the teams headed for overtime.
The extra period was a classic, with four lead changes and two ties. Pawlak drained a long trey with 1:35 remaing and was fouled, giving the Thunderbirds a 4 point cushion, but Josh McDermott responded with a three pointer of his own to bring the Raiders back. After a T-Birds miss, Scott Tiefenthaler was hacked and calmly sank both freebies to give SOU a precarious one point lead, which set up Pawlak's heroics. The senior drove to the left elbow, stepped back and hit for the winning score.
"Ben made me look good tonight," said head coach Anthony Baugher. "You just put the ball in your captain's hands and let him make the play. SOU really made us work for this one, but the guys really stepped up when it counted tonight."
Southern Oregon (5-13, 3-6 CCC) was led by McDermott and Thornton with 21 points each. Dustin Vaughn hauled in 14 rebounds.
Pawlak poured in 21 points to lead Cascade. Ryan Barker added 15 points, and Jared Mace narrowly missed a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Cascade heads to Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho on Monday and Tuesday of next week to make up games that were missed over the Christmas break due to inclement weather.