EOU Downs King, Advances in NAIA Tourney
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Jordan Gregg came off the bench to score 18 points and grab nine rebounds to lead ninth-seeded Eastern Oregon to an 88-75 victory over unseeded King College in the first round of the NAIA Division II men’s basketball national championships here Thursday afternoon.
The tournament is being played at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks.
The Mountaineers (24-7) will face Rollie Massimino-coached Northwood in the second round Friday at 3:45 p.m. PDT. Northwood is the tournament's No. 8 seed.
Gregg, a 6-7 junior from Lewiston, led a cast of EOU reserves that outscored the King bench 38-16. Dan Stafford added 12 points in a reserve role and Thomas McCarthy came in to score six points on a pair of 3-point field goals. Starters Kris Groce had 17 points and Neil Fryer 11.
King, out of Bristol, Tenn., ended its season at 24-8. The Tornado were led by Kyle Savely, who had 18 points, and Ben Bosse, who had 17.
Eastern Oregon, playing in the national tournament for the second consecutive year, led 40-32 at halftime and slowly pulled away in the second half, extending its lead to as many as 18 points. The Mounties shot 47 percent from the field and 48 percent (13 of 27) from beyond the arc. EOU committed just eight turnovers.
EOU’s win gave the Cascade Collegiate Conference a 3-1 record in first-round games. On Wednesday, both Evergreen and defending national champion Oregon Tech advanced to Friday’s second round with opening-round wins.
OIT (29-5), the seventh seed, will meet unseeded Bellevue (23-8) at 8:15 a.m. PDT. Evergreen (20-11) takes on sixth-seeded Indiana Wesleyan (21-10) at 2 p.m. PDT.