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63 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, March 18, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 13, 2005 Southern Oregon comes up short at NAIA tourney By JOE ZAVALA For the Mail Tribune POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. — On Wednesday, the Southern Oregon men’s basketball team finally learned what a win at the highest level feels like. The Raiders were sky high after another victory Friday. On Saturday, they were slapped with the agonizing flip side. "They’ll rebound," SOU head coach Brian McDermott said. "It’s going to take a while. That one’s going to hurt for a while." Cedarville senior guard Jason Weakley swished a free-throw-line jumper with four seconds left and Brad Coen’s desperation 3-point heave at the buzzer wasn’t close, as the Yellow Jackets nipped the Raiders, 66-64, in the quarterfinals of the NAIA Division II National Championships at Keeter Gym. Shea Washington’s inside bucket gave the eighth-seeded Raiders a 64-60 lead with 2:40 left, but SOU, so clutch in the first two rounds, couldn’t finish. Anthony Delimpo scored on Cedarville’s next possession and Mugabe Thomas, who led everyone in both points (25) and rebounds (13), tied the game with 1:01 left. Weakley‘s game-winner was just his second make in 11 attempts. He was defended by Steve Farley, who missed an open 3-pointer with about 25 seconds to go. Advertisement "A double screen allowed me to run into the lane and get an easy jump shot," Weakley said. "(Farley) slipped just a little bit and it gave me a chance to pull up." The Raiders had a timeout, but junior forward Jeff Williams opted to throw a long pass to Coen. The senior forward dribbled from left to right and leaned into a 25-footer, which was wide right. Washington, who led the Raiders with 22 points, couldn’t corral the rebound and the buzzer sounded. The Raiders were in a daze as they walked off the court, some stopping to watch Cedarville‘s celebration. Later, they slowly filtered one at a time out of the locker room. Washington, who dominated Raider opponents through the first two rounds and faced a collapsing defense all game, blamed himself. "For me personally, I didn’t even come to play in the first half," said the 6-foot-7 forward, who was 2-for-6 for seven points in the first half. "I didn’t contribute to the team at all basically but give up points. I probably gave up 12, 15 points in the first half to one player (Mugabe) and we lost by two. If I would have come to play in the first half, that would have helped a lot." The win advances 16th-seeded Cedarville (Ohio) to the semifinals, where it will face No. 4 seed Concordia (Neb.). The Bulldogs (31-5) overcame a 17-point second-half deficit to beat Cornerstone (Mich.) earlier in the day. Mugabe hit 7 of 13 shots to score 17 points in the first half and was held to eight points on 4 of 8 shooting after the break. SOU switched between zone and man-to-man defense in the second half and the strategy worked to perfection early on. The Raiders held Cedarville (28-9) to four points through the first six minutes, taking a 42-39 lead on Washington’s three-point play with 13:57 left. Southern retained that lead until Weakley’s 3-pointer tied the game with 10:46 to go, sparking a seven-point Yellow Jackets’ rally that gave them a 53-49 lead with 9:03 left. The Raiders turned the tables when Farley, SOU’s second-leading scorer with 13, drilled a 3 to ignite a 10-3 rally. Washington’s layup capped the blitz and set the table for Cedarville’s season-saving comeback. "The experience doesn’t get any better than that," said Raider junior forward Ryan Gabel, who played solid defense to help limit Thomas in the second half. "I think we played our hearts out and I think a few things just didn’t go our way. � We just played the best we could and it didn’t go our way, but it was well worth it — well worth it." The Raiders held Cedarville to 44-percent shooting (27-for-62) but was held to 44-percent (24-for-55) themselves. Cedarville won the rebounding battle, 39-31. The Raiders had 13 assists to Cedarville’s five and five blocks to Cedarville’s one. The first half was a back and forth battle, with both teams taking five-point leads and later giving them up. SOU did it first, scoring the first five of the game. Cedarville answered with a 15-6 run of its own to go up 15-11 and eventually led 29-24 with 4:54 left. Williams, who scored all 10 of hits points in the first half, hit a 3-pointer to cap a five-point Raider spurt that tied the game at 29. SOU took a two-point lead on Travis Elam’s rebound putback with 32 seconds left and Mugabe tied it just before the buzzer on a two-handed dunk. The loss closes the door on the best season in Raider history and was the last game for SOU seniors Coen and Elam. SOU’s first-round win was its first ever national tourney victory. Farley tried to put it in perspective. "I don’t want to say I’m not happy with the season because we had a great year and we fought back from a lot of adversity at the beginning of the year," he said. "But this isn’t how we wanted to end it. We really thought we had a shot to win it." Added McDermott: "There ain’t much difference between winning and losing. There were two good basketball teams out there and they made the last shot. And now we all get to go home." 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 AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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