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Click Here 42 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, January 31, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend December 19, 2003 Fiegi scores 41, but SOU gets victory By JOE ZAVALA for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Eric Fiegi couldn’t miss, but he didn’t get a shot when it counted most. The Western Baptist sophomore center and former South Medford High all-star couldn’t haul in a high pass on a decisive inbounds play with 3.3 seconds left, allowing Southern Oregon to escape with an 80-76 Cascade Conference victory Thursday night at McNeal Pavilion. Fiegi, who entered the game averaging 29.7 points and 9.2 rebounds, finished with game highs of 41 points and 14 boards. That wasn’t enough, however, to save the Warriors in a bruising, physical scrap between two teams trying to avoid an 0-2 league start. "I just think we missed some shots down the stretch, and it happens," Fiegi said. Advertisement SOU, which looked sluggish and out of sync in a 14-point loss to Concordia less than 24 hours earlier, played its most complete game of the season to improve to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in league play. Western Baptist, which was coming off a 95-85 road loss at fifth-ranked Oregon Tech, fell to 5-5 and 0-2. Sophomore forward Shea Washington led the Raiders with 25 points and nine rebounds. He hit 11 of 18 shots, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 44 seconds left. Fiegi had a chance to tie the game from the free-throw line with 32 seconds remaining, but missed the back end of a one-and-one. Jared Abell hit one of two free throws at the other end to give the Raiders a two-point lead, then blocked a shot by Jeff Dunn out of bounds with 3.3 seconds left to set up the final sequence. Following a Warrior timeout, Dunn lobbed the ball to Fiegi in the lane. The ball sailed over the 6-foot-9 post’s outstretched hands right to Abell, who was fouled. Abell drained both free throws with four-tenths of a second left to seal SOU’s biggest win of the young season. "This is a huge win for us," said Raider point guard Peter Nelson, who had a team-high six assists. "Yesterday we came out and everybody was sluggish from the first guy to the 10th guy, and we talked about it a lot between last night’s game and (during) our shootaround this morning, and we made a group effort to come out with a lot more energy and focus. We knew we couldn’t go 0-2 in league." Fiegi said the ending was the result of good defense. "Shea went up and made a great play on the ball," he said. "I thought he was going to tip it, so I tried to read off the tip. He didn’t end up getting a piece, so then I was in the wrong place. But he made a great play, so you’ve got to give him credit." The Raiders also got 17 points and some great hustle plays out of junior forward Jin Voeks and 13 points and five rebounds from sophomore center Nick Borrevik. For the Warriors, Ben Morris scored 13 and was the only Western Baptist player besides Fiegi to score in double figures. Western Baptist won the rebounding battle, 36-31, and outshot SOU, 53 percent to 50 percent, thanks mostly to Fiegi’s 16-for-26 performance. But the Raiders played with newfound poise, committing just six turnovers after giving up 20 against Concordia. "I just know that it wouldn’t have been much fun driving to Riverside (for a game against UC Riverside) tomorrow if we’d had gone down to 0-2," said SOU coach Brian McDermott. "You don’t want to lose any at home, but we lost that first one so this is definitely stopping the bleeding." Joe Zavala is sports editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 482-3456. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times