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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Saturday, June 13, 2015 Mountaineers honor Warriors get mad, even with Cavs scholar athletes NBA Finals By TOM WITHERS Associated Press CLEVELAND — Weaving his way toward Golden State’s locker room, where the Warriors were packing for home, Stephen Curry had to handle one last double-team. Game 5 Two Cavaliers fans wanted a photo with him. “Gotta be quick,” Cleveland Curry said, pausing Cavaliers at and smiling for the JURXSVHO¿H Curry was happy to please, and happier the NBA Finals were tied Golden St. Warriors again. With Curry’s • Sunday shooting touch back • 5 p.m. to normal, Andre • TV: ABC Iguodala playing like • Series a younger version of tied 2-2 himself, and coach Steve Kerr’s gamble to tweak his starting lineup — even if he had to lie about it — the Warriors knotted these HQWHUWDLQLQJ ¿QDOV 7KXUVGD\ QLJKW with a 103-82 win over the gassed Cavaliers, who are desperate for rest and help for LeBron James. Facing the prospect of falling behind 3-1, the Warriors came out to play. They were energized from the start, DQG WKH\ ¿QLVKHG RII WKH XQGHUVWDIIHG Cavs with a dominant fourth quarter, a 12-minute bombardment of big shots to seize momentum going into Sunday’s Game 6 at noisy Oracle Arena. These were the Warriors closer to full volume, 9 out of 10. “We really picked up our intensity level,” said forward Draymond Green, who moved to center in Kerr’s smaller starting lineup. “We contested shots. We got on loose balls, and we rebounded. We battled.” Questioned by some critics for being too laid back, the Warriors were more physical, more focused and more urgent than previously in this series. They outran the frazzled Cavs, SXVKLQJ WKH EDOO XS WKH ÀRRU DIWHU made baskets and imposing their will for 48 minutes. Curry was Curry again. After PLVVLQJRISRLQWHUVLQWKH¿UVW three games, he knocked down four 3s and scored 22. He’s made 9 of his last 15 3-pointers, an encouraging sign for the Warriors and something that will keep Cavs coach David Blatt from getting much sleep. Iguodala, though, was Golden State’s best player. He scored 22 points, East Oregonian AP Photo/Tony Dejak Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) answers a question during a press conference following Game 4 of basketball’s NBA Fi- nals in Cleveland, early Friday, June 12, 2015. The Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-82 to tie the best-of-seven game series at 2-2. made James work for every shot and ZKLOHPDNLQJKLV¿UVWVWDUWRIWKHVHDVRQ in Golden State’s 101st game, he set the early tempo by outrunning Cleveland’s defense for a pair of dunks. “He’s one of the X-factors, and he came to play,” James said of the 31-year-old Iguodala, one of his Olympic teammates. “He was in attack.” Kerr went with a smaller lineup — he benched center Andrew Bogut — and it’s likely he’ll stick with a group that causes matchup problems for the Cavaliers. Because of injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, Cleveland has limited options. Kerr admitted after- ward that he wasn’t truthful leading into the game for fear of Cleveland making an adjustment. Given the Cavs’ fragile state, it may not have mattered. The coast-to-coast travel, lack of depth and demanding schedule caught up to Cleveland. Although the deci- mated Cavs downplayed the fatigue, it was obvious they didn’t have their legs. And the postgame scene in their training room underscored their brittle condition. James needed stitches for a head cut sustained when he banged into a courtside camera; Matthew Della- vedova took an ice bath to soothe his cramping muscles; Iman Shumpert had his bruised left shoulder encased in ice. All things considered, it’s remark- able the Cavs are in the series. After carrying his teammates in three games, James was due a sub-stan- dard performance. He still managed 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, but he was unable to dictate the tempo as the Warriors took control. Blatt may need to re-consider his rotations. He’s only playing seven players, ignoring veterans Mike Miller and Shawn Marion, former champions who might be able to provide vital minutes and ease James’ burden. Also, the Cavs need to get something, anything, from J.R. Smith, who missed all eight 3-pointers in Game 4. The only time Smith, who arrived at Quicken Loans Arena riding an electric, hands-free vehicle called a PhunkeeDuck, was on the mark was when he muttered an expletive describing his performance. James, in typical fashion, seemed unfazed by the loss — almost as if he expected it. He understands his team’s limita- tions, but he also knows the Cavs still have a chance, and that’s all he can ask. James has been in tougher jams than this. He dismissed the notion that his next game will be his biggest challenge. With Miami in 2012, James went to Boston trailing 3-2 in the confer- HQFH ¿QDOV DQG WKH IRXUWLPH 093 responded with an epic 45-point, 12-rebound effort. “That’s probably the biggest chal- lenge of my career,” he said. “Game 5 at Golden State is not that big when it comes to going to Boston, you lose multiple times in that arena, and the franchise I was with at the time had never won a playoff game in Boston. Now that’s pretty challenging, so I’ve been through a little bit in my pretty cool career.” LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon University honored its scholar athletes on Friday at the 2015 Student Awards Ceremony. Six-time NAIA All-Amer- ican runner Hans Roelle was the Male Scholar Athlete, and volleyball standout Bobbi Sumpter was the Female Scholar Athlete. Also awarded were the Male and Female Ragsdale Scholar Awards, which went to Jace Billingsley (football) and Kailey Wilson (cross country/track). Roelle has a 3.84 GPA and has won the 1,000-meter indoor track national title each of the last two years. He also won the 800-meter outdoor track national title, and holds the EOU and Cascade Confer- ence champion meet records in the event. Sumpter has been an on-court leader for the volleyball team the last four years, helping them to the national tournament this past season. She has a 3.87 GPA, and is a two-time NAIA Scholar Athlete. Billingsley is a record-setting receiver with the Mountaineers who has been an academic all-conference selection each of the last two years. Wilson is a double major in biology and pre-veterinarian, and has completed her course- work in three years while main- taining a 3.8 GPA. The distance runner has also scored in every Cascade Conference meet since joining the Mountaineers. Loper named CCC Player of Year LA GRANDE — Casey Loper became the second Mountaineer to win Cascade Collegiate Conference Red Lion Player of the Year on Thursday. Loper, of Powell Butte, helped Eastern Oregon 8QLYHUVLW\ YROOH\EDOO ¿QLVK eighth in the nation this season DQGOHGWKHPWRWKHLU¿UVWHYHU CCC title with an EOU-record 494 kills.Robbie Hayne was (28¶V¿UVW&&&3OD\HURIWKH Year (11-12). Locals to play in 2A/1A all-star volleyball match LA GRANDE — Two local volleyball standouts will take the court one more time in the high school career when Eastern Oregon University hosts the Oregon Athletic Coaches Associ- ation 1A/2A Volleyball All-Star Match on Saturday, June 20 at Quinn Coliseum at 9 a.m. C o n d o n / W h e e l e r ’s Matney Jamieson and Ione’s Lauren Garrett were both selected for the game, which will feature 24 athletes from around the state. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Photo courtesy of Eastern Oregon University Eastern Oregon University athletes Bobbi Sumpter, far left, Kailey Wilson, center, and Hans Roelle pose with their plaques from the EOU Scholar awards on Friday. Preserve the Memories Purchase 2015 State Championship Photos on eastoregonian.com
