Posted by
Gabriel Wallis
-
Sat, Mar 15, 2008
- [
Men's Basketball
] - Viewed 195 times
Lancers finish season 26-10.
Point Lookout, Mo. - The Final Four is set as 11th seed Oregon Tech defeats unseeded Grace College (Ind.), 81-70, in the final game of the night. The 17th-annual event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.).
Grace
took the early lead (7-4) behind a pair of three pointers by junior
forward Michael Wienhorst. The Lancers pushed their advantage up to
seven before Oregon Tech went on a 10-2 run to pull ahead, 18-17. The
lead exchanged hands over the next five minutes until the Hustlin' Owls
pulled ahead and went into the locker room with a 30-27 lead. Both
teams struggled from the perimeter as they combined to shoot 3-for-16
from beyond the arc.
Oregon Tech improved the lead to seven in
the opening minutes of the second half and extended it to15 (55-40)
behind a pair of field goals by Ryan Fiegi and one by Josh Wetzler with
11:01 left to play. Grace made one last charge with under three minutes
to play when senior Kyle Johnson scored five straight points to cut it
to eight, 71-63. The Hustlin' Owls were just too strong down the
stretch and clinched the win an offensive put-back by Fiegi and some
clutch free throw shooting.
Ryan Fiegi led all scorers with 23
points, 15 coming in the second half. The senior shot 9-of-14 from the
field and also pulled down nine rebounds and dished out five assists.
Josh Wetzler recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Hustlin' Owls held Grace to 19% (5/26) from the three point line.
Four
Lancers scored in double figures, led by Kyle Johnson with 16 points,
12 in the second half. David Swanson added 14 points and 13 rebounds
and Eric Gaff put in 13. Grace won the battle of the boards, 40-36, but
struggled from the field shooting 40%.
Oregon Tech, now 29-6,
advances to the Final Four for the fourth time in school history. The
Hustlin' Owls lost in the championship game in 1998, won the
championship in 2004 and lost in the semifinals in 2005. They will play
defending champion and second seed MidAmerica Nazarene at 8:00 pm on
Monday, March 17. The 32-team, single-elimination tournament concludes
on Tuesday, March 18.
Box Score