Oregon Tech's Joshua Wetzler Moved Up to 4th Place for Career Rebounds at the NAIA National Tournament with 9 Rebounds in a Losing Effort (Photo by Kelly Caleb)
Bellevue Knocks OIT Out of NAIA Tourney
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Seventh-ranked Oregon Tech’s quest for a second consecutive NAIA Division II men’s basketball championship came to a halt here Friday morning in a 78-64 loss to a Bellevue (Neb.) program it defeated in last year’s title game.
The Hustlin’ Owls (29-6) could never get untracked offensively in the game that tipped off at 8:15 a.m. Pacific time. OIT shot just 38 percent from the field and was 3 of 19 (.158) from 3-point range. The Bruins, meanwhile, shot 54 percent from the floor and converted 14 of their 15 free throw attempts in advancing to the NAIA quarterfinals for the fourth time in school history.
Jerrod Tucker led three Bellevue players in double figures, scoring a team-high 21 points. Davon White added 14 and Ron King 12. Jguwon Hogges scored a game-high 25 points in a losing effort for OIT, which also got 16 points from Justin Parnell and 10 from Christian Cavanaugh before fouling out.
Down by as many as 11 in the first half, OIT cut the lead to seven, 34-27, at the break. The closest the Hustlin’ Owls could get the rest of the way was six points, 34-28, after Myles Daley converted an early second-half free throw.
Led by Tucker and King, the Bruins began pulling away from the Owls after intermission. Bellevue opened up a 54-39 lead with a little over 11 minutes remaining before a brief OIT rally cut the lead to eight, 62-54, on a Parnell 3-pointer. But the cold-shooting Owls were unable to sustain their momentum, and Bellevue opened up a 16-point lead with about 3 ½ minutes to go. The Bruins, meanwhile, shot 62 percent from the field in the second half, hitting 16 of 26 attempts.
Bellevue (24-8) also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the bigger Owls by a 42-28 margin. The Bruin bench outscored the OIT reserves, 13-2.
The Bruins will face second-seeded Bethel (Ind.), which defeated Indiana-Southeast in a second-round game earlier Friday, in Saturday’s quarterfinals.