POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. — The Oregon Institute of Technology men’s basketball team knocked off Judson University in the opening round of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship Wednesday, 63-57. The 2010 event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.).
The second seeded Hustlin’ Owls had to work for its ninth consecutive first round victory over the Eagles. The first 10 minutes featured three lead changes and two ties, including a pair of Josh Weber free throws for JU that tied the game at 14 with 11:11 remaining in the first half.
OIT (30-4) then used a 21-0 run over the next eight minutes to stretch its lead to 35-14 with 3:12 remaining in the first half. Judson would make a run of their own and hold the Owls scoreless for the rest of the half, 12-0.
A Justin Parnell jumper gave Tech its largest lead of the second half, 43-31, with 13:53 remaining in regulation. The Eagles then made another run, this time a Jim Kuban basket capped off a 17-4 run that gave Judson the lead back with 8:15 remaining in the game.
The lead changed only twice over the next five minutes with the lead never larger than three points.
Joseph Foster led four OIT double-digit scorers with 17 points. Justin Parnell added 12, Myles Daley had 11, and Scott Riddle chipped in 10. Daley added a game-high 12 rebounds. Judson held Tech to 1 for 13 shooting from behind the perimeter. The Hustlin’ Owls entered the game with a 38 percent three-point field goal percentage.
The Eagles (17-13) were 4 for 19 from behind the arc, and shot 31 percent from the field in the game. Oregon Tech finished shooting 33 percent from the field. Judson had 14 turnovers, compared to the Hustlin’ Owls’ nine.
Kuban led JU with 14 points on 6 for 19 shooting from the field. Landon Skinner finished with 11, and Josh Edwards had 10. LeStan Hoskins had a team-high 10 rebounds. The Eagles finished the game with no assists.
The scoring margin was the closest for a first round game featuring the two seed since second-seeded Bethel College defeated Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho in 1999. 96-90. Bethel went on to be the national runner-up that season. Only one two-seed has ever lost in the opening round when Grace fell to Northwest Nazarene in 1993, 86-75.
Oregon Tech advances to the second round and will play 15th seeded St.Francis Friday at 4 p.m.
Evergreen Comes Close But Falls to No. 8 Seeded Embry-Riddle
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. — Eighth-seeded Embry-Riddle University rallied to hold off upset-minded The Evergreen State College Wednesday, 80-78.
Evergreen State (19-11) got up by as many as 15 points, 23-8, after jumping out to a 12-0 lead to begin the game. The Geoducks led 48-35 at halftime, and took a 50-35 lead just into the second half. Embry-Riddle then began to cut away at the lead and go on a 26-14 over a 10-minute span.
The Eagles (29-5) tied the game at 70 with a pair of Eric Lorenzi free throws with 4:46 remaining in regulation. The game remained tied until Lorenzi hit another pair of free throws to give ERAU its first lead, 72-70. The game would tie two more times but Embry-Riddle never gave up its lead.
The Eagles’ David Butler led all scorers with 27 points. The junior went 10 for 19 from the field, grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, and threw a game-high four assists. Lorenzi added 22 points, Blake Touchard had 14, and Ray Graham chipped in 13.
Nate Menefee led Evergreen with 26 points. TESC grabbed the 11th and final at-large berth to qualify for the 32-team field. Josh Troyer finished with 15 points, and Julio Feliciano and Anthony Gallagher each added 12.
Embry-Riddle advances to Friday’s second round and awaits the winner of the ninth-seeded Bethel College and Friends match-up.
Wow! Kevin and I have been so busy, we’ve barely updated the blog over the last few months. But so many wonderful listeners have asked us to update it, we just have to do it! Ya’ll come first, for us, you know!
Over the last few months, Kevin and I have been up in the air for the Klamath Lake Counties FoodBank, raising money by sitting in a lift until the Basin donated enough food and funds to keep hungry babies’ tummies full for the holidays. Nikki and Dave were amazing to us and took great care of us when we were up in the air, freezing and wondering how long we’d be up there!
We’ve also honored Klamath County veterans with contests on WOMF, been to KBRA and KHSA meetings, been part of the Klamath Falls Citizens Police Academy with the wonderful City Police Department and all the staff and been to meetings organized by our amazing Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger.
Kevin has trained as a volunteer with Klamath County Fire District #4 and I have mock-trained with Klamath County Fire District #1 just to get a taste of what they go through every day. That was incredible. I slept for like 16 hours after that day.
We’ve met local royalty and interviewed them on the air, seen amazing concerts at the Ross Ragland, actually taken part in the Cascade Civil War Society’s annual Battle at Moore Park with black powder guns and period costumes, and been part of the Snowflake Festival and Tree Lighting Ceremony at Christmas. We’ve been so honored by the way Klamath County has embraced us over the last year and a half.
We’ve hosted the Citizens for Safe Schools tenth annual awards banquet, met with Governor Kulongoski and the State Natural Resources Policy Advisor and Senator Walden, along with a whole lot of policy-makers and legislators, hosted the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce annual awards gala and hosted the half-time Hot Shots show at OIT for the Hustlin’ Owls Men’s basketball games this year. Looks like we’re probably going to Branson, too!
Now, with the Spring Cattlemen’s Association Bull and Horse Sale over, we’re looking ahead to Relay for Life this summer, the Fourth of July, Military Family Appreciation Day, the Blues Festival and Brats, Blues and Brews (or is it Brews, Blues and Brats? I NEVER get that right!) and the Cruise of Klamath and Taste of Klamath and the Chili Cookoff in Bonanza and the farmers markets on the weekends and baseball at Keiger Stadium.
Plus, I’ve been cast in Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite at the Linkville Theater. So plan on coming out for opening night, March 12th, or come see the show during one of the many performances. It’s bound to be a great show!
Keep sending in news tips, and emailing us your information if you lose or find a pet, and calling us with your funny stories. You make us what we are and we couldn’t do our show every day without you!
Talk about a forward thinking family! Our kids have officially moved Father’s Day to Thursday, June 18th, because they leave for summer camp on Friday and won’t be home on Sunday. So it’s official - everyone in our house will recognize Father’s Day on Thursday!!
Well, it’s finally summertime in the basin! Sure, we’ve had a few thunderstorms, but it’s OK of you consider the fact that your lawn and flowers are happy! I’m a motorcycle enthusiast, so I’m excited about the good weather. I recently picked up a Yamaha Venture 1200 (full dress touring bike) and I’m looking forward to my first trip! I’m also a big fan of grilling food…in fact, we even decided to ditch our gas grill and go old school with a Weber kettle and man, oh man, chicken and chops and steaks haven’t tasted this good in years!
We’re getting ready to settle into summer and we hope you are too. Our kids are headed off to summer camp for a few weeks, so Melody and I well have the house to ourselves for a while. We’ll miss them more than any other is capable, but we’ll be able to take the time to enjoy foods we usually don’t eat, and go for motorcycle trips.
I’ve been so busy all day, speaking with Fire Department personnel and the District Attorney and the County School Superintendent, it’s nice to stop for just a moment and share this time with you. I would forget to even eat lunch if it weren’t for the Wake Up Crew lunches we have where we broadcast live from the Basin’s best eateries!
Last weekend, I learned about the Swan Lake North Pump Storage project. Have you heard about it? It has to do with storing energy, obviously. But what does it really mean to us here in the Basin?
One of the companies involved, that’s trying to get the deal sealed, is Symbiotics LLC. I looked them up on the internet and I’m still trying to understand the whole project, but the company is an impressive entity and it all sounds kinda cool. It couldn’t be bad for us to have another 300 jobs here, right? And it would support 60 some-odd family wage jobs on a permanent basis, too. Sounds great.
But can anyone explain to me what a hydroelectric pump storage project really is? Would it be bad for the area near Swan Lake. The Swan Lake I know of is neither a lake, nor boasts a swan population, but it is part of the area and I would hate to see another issue up there like we have with the fishing and farming here in Klamath Falls.
I’ll do the research about the project and I’ll get back to you!
This is the much requested audio clip of Harmony Lee speaking at Malin Elementary about the impact on the community of closing both Malin Elementary, and Gearhart Elementary in Bly.
Starting Monday, May 4th, you are invited to have breakfast with Kevin and Melody - The KLAD Wake Up Crew - from 8 to 9 at Hillside Coffee at the corner of 4th and Main, downtown Klamath Falls. We’ll be there every Monday morning, and hope to see you there!
The Owls will back at it this morning against Bellevue University - scheduled pregame is 8:00 with an 8:15 opening tip. You can watch today’s game live online for $9.95 by visiting www.naialive.com.
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Senior forward Josh Wetzler scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down 16 rebounds Wednesday night to lead seventh-seeded Oregon Tech to a 69-47 victory over Iowa Wesleyan College in the opening round of the NAIA Division II men’s basketball championships. The 32-team tournament is being played at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of the College of the Ozarks.
OIT (29-5), the defending national champion, advanced to the second round of the tournament on Friday at 8:15 a.m. PDT, when it will take on unseeded Bellevue (Neb.), which upset 10th-seeded Mount Vernon Nazarene earlier in the day. Iowa Wesleyan, the champion of the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament, ended its season 20-11.
Wetzler, a 6-7, 240-pounder who hit eight of 10 shots from the field, did most of his damage inside on putbacks. Of his 16 rebounds, nine came at the offensive end. Guard Jguwon Hogges added 13 points for the Hustlin’ Owls, who posted their seventh consecutive victory this season and sixth straight in the national tournament.
A strong defensive effort by the Owls kept the Tigers in check the entire game. Iowa Wesleyan scored 32 points fewer than its season average, and two-time All-American Brett Humpal never was able to get in a position to hurt OIT. Humpal finished with a team-high 18 points, two below his season average.
The Owls led 36-25 at halftime.
OIT’s win gave the Cascade Collegiate Conference a 2-0 start in the tournament. Earlier Wednesday, 23rd-ranked Evergreen staged a furious second-half comeback to post a 101-86 win over eighth-seeded Bluefield (Va.). On Thursday, the other two CCC entrants – Warner Pacific and Eastern Oregon – play their opening-round games.
