EOU Upset Bid Falls Just Shy in 80-79 Loss
Boxscore
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – In a back and forth game that featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes, it came down to the last possession for Eastern Oregon Saturday night in its NAIA Division II men’s basketball quarterfinal matchup with top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan. Unfortunately for the Mounties, Kris Groce’s off-balance 19-foot jumper with two seconds left was off the mark and EOU’s upset bid fell just shy in an 80-79 loss.
The Mountaineers, the last of four Cascade Collegiate Conference teams remaining in the 32-team field, ended their season 25-8.
Groce, a 5-10 senior transfer from Sacramento State, had given the ninth-seeded Mounties a 79-77 lead with 23 seconds left when he drove the lane and got his layup attempt to fall. But OWU, which has been ranked No. 1 in the nation in the last four Top 25 polls, quickly went to work behind guard Steve Briggs, who scored a career-high 42 points, including the last five points of the game for the Eagles. Briggs backed down Jeremy Templeton, then hit a turnaround jumper from 15 feet and drew the foul. His free throw with 9.8 seconds left provided the final margin for the Eagles, who improved to 33-2 with their 16th straight win.
EOU, which trailed 43-35 at halftime, started strong in the second half, outscoring OWU 20-10 in the first 6 ½ minutes to take a 55-53 lead. The Mounties led by as many seven in the second half, and took a 77-73 lead with 2:09 remaining after a 15-foot jumper by forward Jordan Gregg, one of five EOU players to score in double figures. OWU answered with a layup by Isaiah Peterson to cut the deficit to two, 77-75, but EOU turned the ball over on its next possession when Dan Stafford was called for an offensive foul.
As it did most of the night, OWU once again looked to Briggs, who sank a short bank shot to tie the score at 77 with 51.2 seconds remaining. Groce then got his layup to fall to give EOU its last lead of the game, 79-77, before Briggs converted his game-winning three-point play.
Neil Fryer scored a team-high 16 points for the Mounties, hitting 4 of 7 from beyond the 3-point line. Groce had 14, Paul Carollo and Stafford had 12, and Gregg finished with 11. Carollo also finished with a game-high 10 rebounds. The Mounties shot 55 percent from the floor and 38 percent (10 of 26) from 3-point range.
Briggs was a one-man wrecking crew for the Eagles, who came into the game leading the nation in 3-point field goals made per game. The 5-10 junior was 15 of 28 from the field, including 8 of 19 from beyond the arc. Sadiel Rojas, the only other Eagle in double figures, had 14 points. OWU was 14 of 30 from 3-point range.
OWU, champion of the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference, will face fifth-seeded Black Hills State (S.D.) in one semifinal Monday night. Second-seeded Bethel (Ind.) will face unseeded College of the Ozarks (Mo.) in the other.