SPORTS
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017
1B
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5A Boys Basketball Tournament
Morris’s big day lifts Buckaroos
Pendleton guaranteed
a state trophy after
beating Crescent Valley
Consolation
Semifi nals
#7
Pendleton
61
East Oregonian
CORVALLIS — In No. 7
Pendleton’s gritty loss to Churchill
in the 5A quarterfi nals on Tuesday
night, the Buckaroos had a different
game plan and played a different
style to try and take down the No.
2 Lancers.
The different style resulted in a
lot of touches and shot attempts for
senior Caden Smith (20 shots, 25
points), but fewer looks for other
Wyatt Morris
19 points
5-for-8 3pt FG
5 rebounds
#6
Crescent V.
56
key guys such as Wyatt Morris (4
shots, 6 points), Shaw Jerome (5
shots, 4 points) and Tyler Newsom
(6 shots, 4 points). But as Pendleton
began preparing for Wednesday
morning’s consolation game against
No. 7 Crescent Valley, Buckaroo
coach Kyle Tedder knew that
playing typical Buckaroo basketball
was crucial, and that guys such as
Morris would be needed.
“Before the game I got in
(Wyatt’s) ear a little and told him
to be aggressive today,” Tedder
said in an interview. “Last night the
ball didn’t seem to be in his hands
enough, and we told him it would
be more our style, and he seemed
ready for it.”
Just as Tedder instructed, Morris
was aggressive on offense from
start to fi nish and played himself
into the Buckaroos biggest weapon
on Wednesday. The senior guard
fi nished with a game-high 19 points
on 6-of-12 shooting to lead the
Buckaroos to a 61-56 victory over
the Crescent Valley Raiders to stave
off elimination in the Class 5A
consolation round at Oregon State
University’s Gill Coliseum.
“It was impressive, and I’m real
happy for him,” Tedder said of
Morris’ showing. “He’s been doing
this for the last two months now for
us and I knew it was coming.”
Morris’ biggest contribution
came from behind the 3-point line,
where he sank 5-of-8 attempts in
the game, including the shot that put
Pendleton up for good at 55-52 with
2:19 left in the fourth quarter. Cres-
cent Valley had just tied the game
at 52-52 a mere 15 seconds sooner
on a 3-pointer by Tariq Smith when
Morris took the pass from Tyler
Newsom and sank the shot.
The win also marks the fi rst
victory at the state tournament fi nal
site for Pendleton since 1992.
“This is a big, big day to be a
Buckaroo,” Tedder said. “Again
you come back from a tough loss
last night, we battled and to do
what we just did and not only for
our team and our program, but for
our school is pretty special so I’m
humbled to be a part of it.”
Both teams had multiple scoring
See BUCKS/3B
Women’s College Basketball
Men’s College Basketball
EOU
pushes past
Dickinson St.
Beavers bounced from tournament
California’s
Kameron
Rooks,
right,
blocks a
shot by
Oregon
State’s
Kendal
Manuel (24)
during the
fi rst half of
an NCAA
college
basketball
game in the
fi rst round
of the Pac-
12 men’s
tournament
Wednes-
day, March
8, 2017, in
Las Vegas.
California’s
Jabari Bird
is on the
left.
Eastern Oregon reaches
second round at NAIA
DII Tournament
By NIKKI SHERRILL
NAIA Media Coordinator
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The
night-cap for the fi rst day of
competition in the NAIA Division
II Women’s Basketball National
Championship proved to be a hard-
fought, gritty contest with the chance
to advance to the second round on
the line. The No. 3 Eastern Oregon
Mountaineers faced-off against No. 6
Dickinson State (N.D.) in a late-night
game but the players did not play as
if it were after 10
p.m. at tip-off. In
NAIA DII
the end, Eastern First Round
Oregon extended
its lead enough
in the closing
EOU
moments to earn
the 80-71 victory.
Eastern Oregon,
the Cascade Colle-
giate Conference
r e g u l a r- s e a s o n
c h a m p i o n , Dickinson St.
improved to 29-4
on the year. With
the win, the Moun-
taineers will advance to play No. 2
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (27-6), who
picked up a 66-54 win over Milligan
(Tenn.) in the game prior. The contest
will tip at 11:45 a.m. today.
The entirety of the game saw
both teams trying to gain the
advantage over each other, with
the largest lead only sitting at 13
points in favor of Eastern Oregon at
the 8:43 mark in the fourth quarter.
However, in the fourth quarter, the
Mountaineers fought-off a stifl ing
Bluehawk squad in the late minutes
to get ahead and earn the win. With
Dickinson State closing in and
cutting the lead to three points at,
Eastern Oregon relied on perfect
timing with important shots to get
ahead and start to pull away. In the
end, the Mountaineers were fouled
and headed to the line multiple
times in the closing minutes to
extend their lead and seal the deal.
Eastern Oregon was led by
Stormee Van Belle who connected
on 14 points and pulled down a
team-high nine rebounds. Common
leader Maya Ah You also netted 14
points while earning fi ve rebounds,
respectively. From beyond the arc,
Eastern Oregon was good for .325
on 13 3-pointers made.
AP Photo/John
Locher
80
71
Oregon State’s disappointing season comes to an end against Cal
By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — California
had a hard time shaking an Oregon
State team that had won fi ve
games all season. The Bears ended
the regular season with fi ve losses
in six games, so there was no way
they could afford to lose this.
Cal found a way to close out
a harder-than-expected game and
now gets a shot to move on to the
quarterfi nals of the Pac-12 Tourna-
ment.
Jabari Bird scored 20 points
and converted a key 3-point play
with 54 seconds left, helping Cali-
fornia grind out a 67-62 victory
over Oregon State Wednesday
in the fi rst round of the Pac-12
Tournament.
“We knew it would be tough
just fi nding a way to win, get the
rust off us,” Cal coach Cuonzo
Martin. “Felt like we were playing
with a 15-pound-weight vest on
our backs. We found a way to get
the win, and now we can move
forward.”
Cal (20-11) labored for most
Oregon State’s Ste-
phen Thompson Jr.,
left, shoots around
California’s Kamer-
on Rooks, center,
and California’s Ivan
Rabb, right, during
the second half of
an NCAA college
basketball game in
the fi rst round of the
Pac-12 men’s tour-
nament, Wednesday,
March 8, 2017, in Las
Vegas. California
won 67-62.
Pac-12
Oregon State
California
62
67
of the game offensively and had
a hard time containing Oregon
State’s Stephen Thompson Jr. The
fi fth-seeded Bears pulled it out
behind Bird and a strong second
half by Ivan Rabb.
The 6-foot-11 forward had
12 points and 13 rebounds after
scoring two on 1-of-7 shooting
in the fi rst half, helping the Bears
earn a rematch against Utah in
Thursday’s quarterfi nals.
The Utes beat Cal by 30 on
March 2, putting a dent in their
NCAA Tournament hopes.
“It’s not added motivation, it’s
a game in March that we need to
win, so that’s enough motivation
right there,” Bird said. “But, I
mean, Utah’s a great team, and
like I said before, we’re looking
forward to the challenge.”
Thompson had 25 points and
AP Photo/John Locher
hit 5 of 6 from 3-point range to
keep Oregon State (5-27) in the
game until late. The Beavers
pulled within 59-57, but Bird was
fouled on a layup and hit the free
throw to put Cal up fi ve.
The Beavers couldn’t come
up with the key stops when they
needed it and hurt themselves
from the free-throw line, hitting 14
of 24.
“We missed some free throws
when we were struggling to score
in the end of the second half, and
See BEAVERS/2B
Sports shorts
Cowboys to release Tony Romo
DALLAS (AP) — Tony Romo’s star-crossed
career as the starting quarterback for the Dallas
Cowboys will soon be over.
A person with knowledge of the decision
tells The Associated Press that the Cowboys
will release Romo when the NFL
year opens on Thursday.
Romo will leave the Cowboys
as the franchise leader in yards
passing and touchdowns after
losing the starting job to rookie
Dak Prescott. Dallas’ 10-year
starter broke a bone in his back in
Romo
a preseason game last year.
Romo, who turns 37 next month, threw for
34,183 yards and 248 touchdowns and went
78-49 as a starter. The four-time Pro Bowler
went 2-4 in the playoffs, never winning on the
road or reaching the NFC championship game.
A release will free about $5 million in cap
space for the Cowboys.
“I don’t think I felt fear until
on the fi eld and all I thought
about was my family and
the people around me ...
but people were helping
each other and nobody
blinked. The emergency
doors were taken off and
we all got out.“
— Tom Wywrot
University of Michigan men’s bas-
ketball spokesman after the plane
carrying Michigan to the Big Ten
Tournament in Washington D.C.
slid off the runway after aborting
a takeoff due to high winds. There
were no injuries in the incident
OIT bumped from NAIA bracket
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. — Bryan Beard
had 14 points and eight rebounds in what
would be his fi nal collegiate basketball
game as the Oregon Tech men’s basketball
team came up short 100-92 against Saint
Francis at the NAIA National
Championships.
The Pendleton High product
was 5-of-5 from the fi eld and
4-of-5 at the free throw line and
also had a block in the game, and
Beard’s jumper early in the second
half gave OIT its fi nal lead.
Beard
Saint Francis used a 12-4
run late in the second half to pull away and
hold off the Hustlin’ Owls down the stretch.
All-American Bryce Lienhoop led USF with
24 points and 14 rebounds, his 21st career
double-double.
Oregon Tech was led by senior Joel Yellow
Owl with 32 points.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2011 — Kevin Love
records his 52nd consecutive
double-double to surpass
Moses Malone for the longest
such streak since the ABA
and NBA merged in 1976 in
the Minnesota Timberwolves’
101-75 over the Indiana
Pacers.
2013 — Bernard Hopkins
becomes the oldest boxer
to win a major title, scoring
a 12-round unanimous
decision over Tavoris Cloud
to claim the IBF light heavy-
weight championship. The
48-year-old Hopkins breaks
the record he set by beating
Jean Pascal for the WBC
light heavyweight title on
May 21, 2011.
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sports@eastoregonian.com