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SPORTS FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Pac-12 Tournament Men’s College Basketball Ducks beat up on Sun Devils Mounties move on Washington’s last-second shot clinches victory East Oregonian POINT LOOKOUT, Missouri — Kentrell Washington drove to the hoop and tossed in a basket off the glass with less than two seconds left on the clock to give his No. 4 Eastern Oregon Mountaineers a 92-90 victory over No. 5 IU Southeast in the NAIA Divison NAIA DII Championships First Round II fi rst round game on Thursday. The victory marks the fi rst win at the #5 IU Southeast NAIA Champion- ships for the program since 2011. Wa s h i n g t o n fi nished with 20 points and nine #4 EOU rebounds in the game, as he shot 8-of-18 from the fl oor and 3-of-5 from 3 to help his Mounties earn the win. Bryan McGriff led the Mountaineers (24-8) with a game-high 33 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 6-of-9 from deep. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and had one block. It was EOU’s fi rst win at the NAIAs since 2011, and it was just one three- pointer away from tying the NAIA tournament record for most threes in a game at 18. Eastern Oregon never led in the fi rst half, as IU Southeast (24-7) came out slugging at built up a 51-40 lead at the halftime break. In that half, EOU shot just 37 percent (15-of-40) from the fi eld while IU Southeast hit on 58 percent (17-of-29) shots. But in the second half, it was a much different story. EOU opened up 90 92 AP Photo/John Locher Oregon’s Jordan Bell, left, tries to block a shot by Arizona State’s Shannon Evans II during the fi rst half Thursday’s Pac-12 quar- terfi nal in Las Vegas. Oregon makes quick work of Arizona State, advances to semis By JOHN MARSHALL Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Oregon had a hard time stopping Torian Graham in the fi rst half, allowing Arizona State to keep it close. The Ducks still didn’t have an answer for Graham in the second, but they shut down everyone else to earn a spot in the Pac-12 Tourna- ment semifi nals. Dillon Brooks Arizona St. scored 22 points, Tyler Dorsey added 21 and No. 5 Oregon pulled away in the second half to beat Arizona State 80-57 Thursday in the Pac-12 Tourna- 57 ment quarterfi nals. “They’re an elite team and have #5 Oregon the type of defense that’s going to keep them in games as they play champi- onship-level basketball,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. Oregon (28-4) tightened up 80 defensively after a close fi rst half, holding Arizona State to 8-of-33 shooting in the second. That set up transition baskets and allowed the Ducks to pull away from the eighth-seeded Sun Devils. Dylan Ennis had a career-high 12 rebounds and fi ve assists for the top-seeded Ducks, who move See DUCKS/2B See MOUNTIES/2B NBA Nurkic’s career night leads Trail Blazers over 76ers Lillard’s 3-point streak snapped at 42 games By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — Jusuf Nurkic had a career-high 28 points and 20 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-108 in overtime on Thursday night. Nurkic also had eight assists and six blocks in Portland’s fourth straight win. Damian Lillard fi nished with 24 points but did not make a 3-pointer, snapping a streak of 42 games with at least one 3. Philadelphia rookie Dario Saric had a season-best 28 points, while Robert Covington added 24 in the 76ers’ sixth loss in seven games. Covington’s layup at the buzzer in regulation tied at 97. Nurkic’s tip-in gave the Blazers a 102-99 lead, but Covington made a 3-pointer to tie it again at 102. Lillard’s free throws gave Philadelphia Portland 108 114 Portland a 106-104 lead with under two minutes left in the extra period. His layup extended the lead to four. Allen Crabbe’s fl oater with 20.9 seconds left helped seal the victory for the Blazers. Portland is one of a number of teams jockeying for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. It began the day in ninth in the standings, just below the Denver Nuggets. “Different teams are at different stages,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said about the urgency at this time of the season. “Obviously with us, with 20 games to go, every win and every loss is magnifi ed.” Philadelphia is near the bottom of the Eastern Conference and well out of the playoff picture. The Sixers got center Jahlil Okafor back after he missed two games because Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic drives to the basket and scores on Phil- adelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor during overtime of an NBA bas- ketball game in Portland, Ore., Thursday, March 9, 2017. The Blazers won 114-108. AP Photo/Steve Dykes of right knee soreness. Phil- adelphia has been so short- handed it received a hardship exception to sign Shawn Long to a 10-day contract earlier this week. Portland led by as many as 12 points in the fi rst quarter and took a 57-52 lead into the half, but the focus was on Nurkic, who had 13 points, seven rebounds and fi ve assists before the break. Philadelphia grabbed a 95-94 lead on Saric’s free throws with 55.9 to go. Nurkic made the second of two free throws to tie it again, and Covington fouled CJ McCollum — who made his foul shots to give Portland a 97-95 lead. Portland was coming off a 126-121 victory at Oklahoma City on Tuesday. TIP INS Trail Blazers: The Sixers beat the Blazers 93-92 earlier this year at the Wells Fargo Center. Covington hit a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left for the win. Sports shorts Ionescu named nation’s top freshman EUGENE — After posting more triple-dou- bles than any freshman in NCAA history, Oregon Ducks guard Sabrina Ionescu has been named the ESPNW national freshman of the year, the outlet announced on Thursday. Ionescu was also named the Pac-12’s freshman of the year by both the league’s coaches and media. She is the fi rst player in program history to earn a national freshman of the year honor. Ionescu tallied four triple- double this year, tied for the Ionescu third-most in NCAA single-season history and the most of any freshman. Oregon legend Bev Smith previously owned the school’s career triple-doubles mark with three. Ionescu averaged 14.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game this season and ranked 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring, 11th in rebounding and fourth in assists. “What I always remember, just continue to stay sober and be a positive role model off the fi eld, and I can continue to stay here.“ — Matt Bush Texas Rangers relief pitcher on his past struggles with alcohol. A former No. 1 overall draft choice, Bush, 31, spent 3.5 years in prison after pleading no contest to a DUI accident that nearly killed an motorcyclist fi ve years ago. He made his MLB debut last season and went 7-2 with a 2.48 ERA. TCU upsets No. 1 Kansas in Big 12 Tournament KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Desmond Bane had 16 points, hitting three free throws with 2.5 seconds left, to help TCU stun top-ranked Kansas 85-82 in the Big 12 quarterfi nals Thursday. The eighth-seeded Horned Frogs (19-14) blew an 11-point halftime lead, and still trailed 80-76 with just over a minute remaining. But a parade of free throws knotted the game, and Alex Robinson’s driving layup gave TCU the lead back with 31 seconds left. He calmly drained all of them, and Devonte Graham’s long 3 at the buzzer bounced harmlessly off the rim as the Horned Frogs leaped off their benched to celebrate a massive upset of the No. 1 seed. They’ll play No. 23 Iowa State, which topped Oklahoma State earlier, in Friday’s semifi nals. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1991 — Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State becomes the fi rst coach to lead four schools into the NCAA tour- nament. Sutton also coached Creighton, Arkansas and Kentucky in the tournament. 2012 — Ashton Eaton of the United States sets a heptathlon world record and wins the gold at the world indoor championships in Istanbul. The American dominates the two-day competition, capping it with an overwhelming 1,000 meters. He breaks the record he set last year by 77 points with a total of 6,645. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
