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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 6, 2006 Owls do it again vs. Raiders OIT men find an all new way to beat SOU By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings WASHINGTON KLAMATH FALLS — Who’s Nate Lewis? Before Saturday, he was a seldom-used freshman guard out of tiny Culver who averaged seven minutes per game for Oregon Tech and hit a grand total of 11 3-point field goals on the season. Now, the 6-foot-2 guard is just the latest incarnation of Oregon Tech’s apparent infatuation with torturing Southern Oregon. Yes, it happened again. Lewis went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in three minutes of action to spearhead Oregon Tech’s comeback from a six-point deficit in the last 3:15. The out-of-the-blue, long-distance barrage gave the Owls a stunning 76-71 Cascade Conference men’s basketball victory over the Raiders that pulled the Techsters within a game of SOU in the league standings. SOU is now 21-2 against every other team it has faced this season and 0-3 against Oregon Tech, which extended its winning streak over its archrivals to 13 straight overall. “They brought some guy that nobody knows in and hit their 3s,” said a frustrated Shea Washington, who led SOU with 23 points and 10 rebounds. “Sometimes we take care of business and sometimes we don’t, so hopefully we figure that out and do that the rest of the season.” The tough loss dealt a serious blow to Southern Oregon’s league title hopes. Warner Pacific (11-3 CC) leads the Raiders (10-4) by one game in the standings and holds the tie-breaker with four games left on both teams’ regular season schedule. The team that captures the league’s regular season championship earns an automatic berth to the NAIA Division II national tournament, to be held March 8-14 at Point Lookout, Mo. The ninth-ranked Raiders looked destined to finally break the OIT curse after overcoming a 48-36 deficit to take a 65-59 lead on two Washington free throws with 3:26 left. They still were in good position after Matt Espinoza drilled a 15-foot jumper with 2:12 left to make it 69-64. Lewis hit his second 3 just nine seconds later on a drive-and-dish by Levell Hesia, who squeezed home a driving layup with 1:37 to go that tied the game at 69. Hesia finished with 15 points and nine assists. Washington scored an inside bucket to give the Raiders back the lead at the 1:10 mark. Lewis answered with his final trey from the right corner with 50 seconds left. The swish drew a deafening roar from the crowd at Danny Miles court, where the 16th-ranked Owls went 0-2 against last-place Cascade and sixth-ranked Warner Pacific the weekend prior. “I kind of knew it was going in,” Lewis said. “It just left my hand and I felt it going in. It’s amazing. It’s such a booster to be in there, be down six and have our crowd come back — they’re what got us back into it.” Andrew Lawrence, who led all scorers with 25 points, stripped the ball from Espinoza on SOU’s next possession and scored on a wide-open fastbreak to make it a three-point game, and Espinoza back-rimmed the Raiders’ last-gasp 3 the next time down the floor. Two Lawrence free throws sealed it. Owls fans rushed the court as the final horn sounded, forcing SOU head coach Brian McDermott to wade through the OIT faithful en route to Tech coach Danny Miles. When asked to comment afterwards, McDermott only offered a polite: “I don’t really have anything to say.” His players weren’t too talkative either, offering mostly shrugs and nods, and examples of missed first-half opportunities. The Raiders’ offense was mostly solid — the Raiders shot 51 percent — but SOU hit just 4 of 17 3-point attempts and 13- of 22 free throws. Oregon Tech returned the favor at the charity stripe, hitting just 10 of 17 free throws, but the Owls burned Southern’s perimeter ‘D’ by draining 10 of 21 treys. SOU played most of the game without Jeff Williams, who sprained his ankle with 7:40 left in the first half. Raider guard Steve Farley was also limited — with foul trouble. The senior guard, usually at his best in big games, finished 1-for-6 for two points and six assists in 27 forgettable minutes. “We didn’t really break down, they just hit the shots at the end,” said SOU guard RaShawn McAllister, who had seven points and three rebounds. “That’s the way it goes — so far.” Sports editor Joe Zavala can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 3020 or [email protected]. 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