Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - Shots that fell in the first half didn't in the second half, and because of that the Grace College Lancers fell in Friday's round of 16 at the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championships.
The 32-team, single-elimination tournament is being played at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks.
In a 68-62 loss to the Southern Oregon University Raiders (26-9), Grace made 15 of 28 attempts in the first half, led by as many as 10 points, and held a 39-35 advantage at the break.
The Lancers, who opened tournament play Thursday morning with a 54-50 win over Bellevue University, couldn't find their shooting touch in the second half, however, making just 8 of 24 attempts from the field.
The fact that 6-foot-8 Southern Oregon junior Jordan West, who was averaging 14 points per game, scored 32 points - and made it look easy at times - didn't help either.
"We got a little tentative," said Grace College coach Jim Kessler, whose team fell to 22-11 on the season. "And we didn't do a good job guarding West ... he kind of had his way. Back-cuts. Back-cuts. Back-cuts. We're used to people penetrating and we just didn't do a good job of seeing what was going on behind us."
West's 32 points came on a 13-of-21 performance from the field.
Tim Weber, a 6-8 senior, scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Raiders, while 6-8 senior Eric Thompson scored 11 points and grabbed five boards.
West gave the Raiders their first lead of the game, a 50-49 advantage, with 11:09 remaining in the game.
The Lancers responded immediately with a bucket from freshman Erik Bowen.
Southern Oregon scored the game's next two points to take a 52-51 lead.
Grace was able to tie the game at 62-62 when senior Dennis Williams hit 1 of 2 free throws with 50 seconds left, but never led again, and the Raiders took advantage of a technical foul on Williams with 19 seconds remaining.
Southern Oregon made 11 free throws in the second half, six of them in the final 38 seconds.
"We just seemed tentative to me, instead of being the aggressor," said Kessler. "In the first half we were the aggressor and we got good looks and took them, and they were dropping. In the second half we got tentative and they kind of got us spread out, and then they cut on us. It's not like they penetrated on us, they just made hard basket cuts. Then we got in the situation where we fouled and put them on the line, and they're a very good free-throw shooting team."
With the six-point win, Southern Oregon advanced to the national quarterfinals for just the second in school history.
The Raiders will play second-ranked Embry Riddle (34-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to Monday's semifinals.
Junior Caleb Featherston led the Lancers with 13 points, while junior Logan Irwin and freshman Chad Hoffer scored 12 points each and junior Brandon Vanderhegghen finished with 11 points.
Hoffer, the former Tippecanoe Valley High School standout who has earned the respect of his teammates after making some life-changing choices, scored 11 of his 12 points in the first half and helped the Lancers build a 24-14 advantage.
"Chad played really well early, and then we got a little tentative at the high post," said Kessler. "We got it there, we just got a little tentative. We didn't look for it enough."
Though their hopes of an NAIA national championship were dashed, the Lancers now turn their attention to the NCCAA Nationals, which Grace will host beginning Wednesday.
The Lancers, who hosted the NCCAA tournament last year and lost in the championship game, receive an automatic bid to the eight-team tournament as the host school.
"Last year was very exciting," said Irwin. "We're going there to win. We're all competitive, so, we're gonna try and win it."
SOUTHERN OREGON 68, GRACE COLLEGE 62
SO 35 33 - 68
GC 39 23 - 62
S. Oregon - Jordan West 13-21 5-6 32, Eric Thompson 4-11 1-2 11, Tim Weber 5-7 6-7 16, Joel Spear 2-7 1-2 5, Ben DeSaulnier 1-2 1-2 4, Kenny Meyer 0-1 0-2 0, Justin Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Brennan Rakoz. Totals 25-51 14-21 68.
Grace - Caleb Featherston 5-8 3-4 13, Kyle Fillman 0-3 0-0 0, Logan Irwin 5-10 2-3 12, Niko Read 3-8 0-0 7, Brandon Vanderhegghen 4-9 1-2 11, Stephen Halstead 0-2 0-0 0, Dennis Williams 2-5 1-3 5, Chad Hoffer 4-6 3-4 12, Erik Bown 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 24-55 10-16 62.
Three-pointers - S. Oregon 4 (Thompson 2, West, DeSaulnier), Grace 4 (Vanderhegghen 2, Read, Hoffer); Rebounds - S. Oregon 31 (Weber 10), Grace 31 (Williams 9); Turnovers - S. Oregon 10, Grace 9; Records: S. Oregon 26-9, Grace 22-11
