Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 7, 2005 SOU men win defensive battle, stay in first place By Ezra Mannix Tidings Correspondent The Raiders showed they can score quickly from inside and out. More importantly, they showed they can be stifling defenders when their shots don't fall. Aside from a win, that's the best news that came out of McNeal Pavilion Saturday night, when the eighth-ranked Southern Oregon men's basketball team came out on top of a 62-58 grinder against the Warner Pacific Knights. "Shots weren't dropping like they were last night, and that's going to happen," said SOU center Shea Washington, who led all scorers with 23 points. "It's just whether or not we come with our defense." The Raiders will need to make sure to pack their defense before they head off to Idaho this weekend. The Raiders face a crucial road test as they play 10th-ranked Albertson College on Friday. With a 12-3 Cascade conference record, SOU is half-game ahead of the Coyotes, who were idle Saturday, for first place. Albertson is undefeated at home this season. The 19-5 Coyotes average 76.9 points per game to 73.5 for the Raiders. Albertson and SOU both shoot 39 percent from beyond the three-point line. SOU was 37.5 percent Saturday. The Coyotes average over 20 three point attempts a game to SOU's 16.5. And it was a 3 that was the crucial shot in Saturday's win. With under a minute to play and leading 55-53, SOU point guard Steve Farley passed the ball inside to Washington. The defense collapsed on him, leaving center Jeff Williams open for a three, which he made with 53 seconds remaining. The 950 in attendance roared their approval. "We tried to bang it into Shea but they doubled down. Shea's good vision made things happen," said Williams, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Washington blocked a driving layup on the ensuing possession, and Warner Pacific was forced to foul him with 26 seconds. He made both free throws to extend the lead to 60-53. Knights' guard Joe Hoover, who had 18 points, 16 coming in the second half, banked a trey with 6.5 seconds left, keeping the fans from heading to the exits. Washington took the inbound pass and the Knights again fouled him. He made one of two at the line to push the lead to four, 62-58. Afterwards no one was gloating, however. "Everything - we can always work on everything," said Washington about adjustments his team needs to make for Albertson. Head coach Brian McDermott was more specific, and just as succinct. "Guard pick and rolls," he said. Fortunately for SOU, Albertson may have lost its edge lately. The Coyotes beat 4-16 Eastern Oregon by only seven Friday and let a nine-point halftime lead slip before holding off Warner Pacific, 79-74. Albertson also was outrebounded 55-29 by Eastern Oregon. Warner Pacific and SOU both had 28 boards. It looked like it would be a high-scoring game early in the first half. SOU hit its first five field goals to go up 11-3 with 15:30 remaining. But that was the SOU's only field goal in a six-minute span from 16:11 to 10:11, when Washington made a layup from a Farley outlet pass. SOU scored just 10 more points the rest of the half, but the Knights could only muster 11 more as the home team took a 25-18 lead to the locker room. "With them, it's if you can contain them one on one. For the most part we did," said McDermott. Added Washington: "Their offense revolves a lot around penetration, and we just tried to stop their penetration." Wingman Ryan Gabel had four of SOU's eight steals. Ezra Mannix is a correspondent for the Ashland Daily Tidings. To comment on this article, contact Sports Editor Joe Zavala at 482-3456 ext. 3020 or [email protected] DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams