Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 2016)
SPORTS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2016 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS NBA Trail Blazers snap losing streak McCollum, Leonard lead Portland over Kings By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer Portland Trail Blazers forward Meyers Leonard, left, re- bounds the ball away from Sacramento Kings center Kosta Koufos, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesdayin Portland. PORTLAND — CJ McCollum scored 20 points and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a six-game losing streak with a 102-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. Meyers Leonard added 16 off the bench for the Blazers, playing without leading scorer Damian Lillard for the second straight Sacramento game because of a sprained left ankle. DeMarcus Cousins scored 28 points but the Kings had their four-game winning streak snapped. The Kings trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half but Cousins made a pair of free throws that pulled Sacramento within 85-76 with 5:50 left. The Kings couldn’t get any closer and 89 Portland extended the lead to 90-78 on Maurice Harkless’ 3-pointer. Portland Matt Barnes’ corner 3-pointer with 2 minutes to go pulled Sacramento within 98-87, before Cousins hit on a fl oater to get closer. Mason Plumlee answered with a dunk for Portland and the Kings couldn’t catch up. Plumlee fi nished with 12 points and 102 See BLAZERS/2B Prep Roundup Men’s College Basketball Bucks knock off rust with win Brooks’ 3-pointer upsets Bruins Pendleton boys get first game in three weeks East Oregonian MILWAUKIE — It wasn’t pretty, but after 22 days without a game the Pendleton boys’ basketball team was just happy to be taking the court in Wednesday night’s game against Dallas Boys’ Hoops at Rex Putnam High School. The Buck- aroos’ 47-34 Dallas win was an added bonus. “ We ’ v e kind of been champing at the bit Pendleton to get back on the fl oor and they’re excited to get the W,” said second-year Pendleton coach Kyle Tedder. “We were a little rusty, but we got it done.” Caden Smith scored a game- high 11 points to pace Pendleton (3-1) and seven Bucks scored at least fi ve points. The Bucks led 25-17 at halftime and 36-28 going into the fourth quarter. Dallas (4-4) was the fi rst team to try a box-and-1 defense on the Bucks this season, and Tedder said the scoring balance was a plus but the team left too many points on the fl oor in the form of missed layups and turnovers. “Different guys got involved, but I don’t know that the score really indicates how we played,” he said. Going against a smaller Dallas (4-4) lineup, Tedder had also expected the Bucks to do a better job controlling the posts but too often were out of posi- tion and gave up 14 offensive rebounds. Carter Weisensee led Dallas with 11 points. “We came out pretty fl at, which is to be expected to a certain extent, but now we’ve got the rust knocked off and hopefully we’ll keep it going and get back to playing like 34 47 See PREPS/2B MAIN PHO- TO: Ore- gon’s Dillon Brooks, center, leaps in the air in celebration after sinking the game winning shot over UCLA in an NCAA college bas- ketball game Wednesday in Eugene. LOWER RIGHT: Ore- gon’s Dillon Brooks, center right, shoots over UCLA’s Thomas Welsh, left, Lonzo Ball and Bryce Alford, right, for the win- ning score. AP Photos/ Chris Pietsch No. 21 Oregon beats No. 2 UCLA By RON RICHMOND Associated Press EUGENE — Ten years ago at McArthur Court, it was Oregon’s Aaron Brooks with the shot that knocked off No. 1 UCLA. This time the dagger was in the hands of Dillon Brooks, and he delivered against the No. 2 Bruins, too. Brooks hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left to give No. 21 Oregon an 89-87 victory Wednesday night in the Pac-12 opener for both teams. Brooks, who fi nished with 23 points and nine rebounds, grabbed Bryce Alford’s missed free throw with 8.9 seconds to go, dribbled to the right wing and pulled up for the game-winning shot. “It’s amazing,” Brooks said. “You work on your game every day and you dream of that moment. “I want more moments like that See OREGON/2B #2 UCLA 87 #21 Oregon 89 Metu leads USC past Oregon State By KYLE ODEGARD Associated Press CORVALLIS — Chimezie Metu had 19 points and eight rebounds and No. 22 Southern California stayed undefeated with a 70-63 victory over Oregon State on Wednesday night in the Pac-12 opener for both teams. Jordan McLaughlin added 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals and Jonah Mathews had 10 Anibal Ortiz/The Corvallis Gazette-Times via AP Oregon State forward Ben Kone (34) is points for the Trojans (14-0, 1-0). Stephen Thompson Jr. scored blocked by USC forward Charles Buggs during the fi rst half of an NCAA college a career-high 24 points and basketball game Wednesday in Corvallis. Drew Eubanks had 15 points #22 USC 70 Oregon St. 63 and 15 rebounds for the Beavers (4-10, 0-1). Southern Cal went on a 13-0 run about midway through the fi rst half to take a 24-9 lead. Oregon State was held scoreless for nearly 5 minutes during the surge. The Trojans led 34-17 at halftime. Southern California led by double digits most of the second half, but Oregon State was able to cut the defi cit to six points in the fi nal minute on a layup by Eubanks. The Trojans shot 27 for 33 (82 percent) from the free throw line compared to 13 for 24 (54 percent) for the Beavers. With about 7:30 left in the game, Eubanks and Southern California’s Charles Buggs got tangled up on a rebound, Buggs fell to the court, Eubanks appar- ently stepped on him and Buggs reacted angrily. During an ensuing scrum, Oregon State’s Tanner Sanders left the bench and was ejected. Eubanks was given a technical foul. Sports shorts Jackson gives N’western bowl win NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Jackson ran for 224 yards and three touchdowns to power Northwestern to only its third bowl victory, 31-24 over No. 22 Pittsburgh in the Pinstripe Bowl on Wednesday night. “Justin’s day will go down as one of the great performances by a Northwestern running back,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. Jackson, the game’s MVP , was awed by the lights and monuments at Yankee Stadium. But it was a more Jackson discreet spot in the locker room that really bowled over Jackson. “Like, Derek Jeter has peed in that urinal,” he said. Jackson had TD runs of 8 and 16 yards in the second quarter, then went deep on a 40-yard burst in the third that left one defender face down on the turf following a fantastic fake and gave the Wildcats (7-6) a 21-17 lead. Former Mariners pitcher on fi fth team change of offseason “He describes his style as angry. I wouldn’t disagree with that.“ — Bill Belichick New England Patriots coach when asked about Miami Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi, who is coming off his third 200-yard game of the season as the Patriots and Dolphins prepare to meet in Sunday’s regular-season fi nale. ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Left- hander David Rollins has changed teams for the fi fth time in just over a month on a waiver claim by the Chicago Cubs from the Texas Rangers, who also reclaimed right-hander Brady Dragmire from Pittsburgh for the second time this offseason. When the Rangers initially received the 23-year-old Dragmire on Dec. 2, they also lost Rollins to Philadelphia. Rollins Rollins was fi rst selected off waivers by the Cubs from the Seattle Mariners on Nov. 18, and four days later waived by the World Series champions and claimed by the Rangers. The Phillies got Rollins on Dec. 2, and then waived him before he got reclaimed by Rangers earlier this week. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1926 — Merlyn Phillips of the Montreal Maroons scores fi ve seconds into the game at Chicago for an NHL record for the fastest goal from the start of a game a mark that would be matched three times. The Blackhawks win 5-4 in overtime. 2006 — Texas Tech spots Minnesota a 31-point, third- quarter lead, then rallies for a 44-41 overtime victory in the Insight Bowl, the largest comeback in Division I-A bowl history. The previous record for a bowl comeback was 30 points, set by Marshall against East Carolina in the 2001 GMAC Bowl. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com