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Mountie men dethroned
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It was like attending a surprise party — after someone narked to the birthday girl and spoiled everyone’s fun. No life. No emotion. No atmosphere. Just a perfectly good time ruined. A towel-waving crowd exited disappointed Saturday, as No. 1-seed EOU allowed No. 4 seed-Warner Pacific to escape with an 85-79 Cascade Conference Tournament semifinal victory, spoiling the Quinn Coliseum party. Time to leave? Time to leave. Maybe that automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament led to this lackluster performance. “When you already know your fate, you have to find different ways to motivate your team,” EOU coach Ryan Looney said. “And I don’t know if we did that tonight. “We tried to the best of our ability to not let that happen.” Where was the hunger? Passion? Feistiness? None of that was shown for EOU. Too much from Warner Pacific. But, hey. When you’re fighting for your playoff lives — as the Knights were — when the cylinder hole looks back at you and says, “fill me more than the other guy, or it’s over,” well, it’s human nature to come out swinging. Warner Pacific did. And EOU backpedaled into the turnbuckle, taking cover. Look, it’s the Knights’ Josh Jackson, draining a 3-pointer. Look again, it’s Scott O’Gallagher, hitting another. They were perfect in the first half. They made the cylinder look like a hula hoop. Get Loud? Quinn Coliseum got quiet. “Because of the big shots we hit early,” Warner Pacific coach Bart Valentine said, “I think it kept a little bit of a damper on them all night long.” Get Quiet. It was alive and roaring late, however, as EOU finally displayed some energy. Here was Neil Fryer — far and away the most energetic Mountie on this night — scoring all 13 points in the second half. He scored inside (5-for-6). He scored outside (3-for-4, 3-pointers). He pulled the Mounties within five points with an athletic put-back, tip-in basket with 39.9 seconds left. But that was as close as they would get, and they finished this contest 9-for-27 behind the arc. Time to leave? Time to leave. And now it’s a waiting game until departing for Point Lookout, Mo. — the site for NAIA Division II National Tournament action on March 12. So will this loss define the Mounties’ success? Not quite. Not for a team who won the Cascade Conference regular season title. Not for a team who had its best season in school history. No. Not for this team. Said Looney: “We’ve accomplished a ton. Maybe more than anyone expected we would.”
O’Gallagher 7-11 4-8 20, Oury 2-3 0-0 4, Martin 4-10 3-5 11, Stewart 5-12 0-0 14, Jackson 7-12 1-1 18, Cook 3-7 2-2 9, Reedal 4-5 0-0 9. Totals 32-60 10-16 85. EASTERN OREGON (79) M.Carollo 4-12 1-8 10, Landsverk 3-5 3-4 9, Templeton 3-7 2-2 10, P.Carollo 3-4 6-9 12, Fryer 5-10 0-1 13, Sawyers 3-6 0-0 7, Finley 5-10 0-0 10, Blanchard 3-6 0-0 8, Ambrose 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 12-18 79. Halftime score – Warner Pacific 44, Eastern Oregon 32. Three-pointers – Warner Pacific 11-16 (O’Gallagher 2-2, Stewart 4-6, Jackson 3-5, Cook 1-1, Reedal 1-2), Eastern Oregon 9-27 (M.Carollo 1-8, Templeton 2-6, Fryer 3-7, Sawyers 1-2, Finley 0-1, Blanchard 2-3). Fouled out – None. Total fouls – Warner Pacific 15, Eastern Oregon 17. Technical fouls – None. Turnovers – Warner Pacific 10, Eastern Oregon 12 Rebounds – Warner Pacific 33 (Martin 8), Eastern Oregon 36 (P.Carollo 7) Assists – Warner Pacific 18 (Martin 9), Eastern Oregon 15 (M.Carollo 4).
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