Men Take Care of Business

Despite the email sent out by Valeree Lane of OIT, plenty of people attended Friday night’s game against then-number-one Eastern Oregon University. The critical game came on a spectacular night for the Owl’s. Despite the 2-point half-time deficit, the men came out fired up and pulled away the win to get the Cascade Collegiate Conference tie for first place. I’m sure Coach Miles did a little “encouraging” and “motivating” at half time, which got the guys focused and more mentally prepared for the second half.

Christian Cavanaugh had a rough time with dismal stats and much disappointment. He collected just 4 points and 3 rebounds. Ryan Fiegi, as usual, was high-scorer of the game with 33. I would like to commend Nate Lewis who had an awesome game. He really showed how much potential he has, and I think played the best game I’ve seen him play. He’s not usually a scoring threat, although I know he’s a great shooter, because he hasn’t been shooting much. But this game he was making people guard him, and taking the ball to the hole. Amazingly, he went 100% from the field, and the free-throw line!

It was a really fun game to watch and the crowd was amazing! The fans were great, except at one point when the gym was as quiet as I have ever heard it during a men’s game. There was nobody cheering or clapping and nobody seemed to be paying attention because all I could hear was a million different conversations at once. It was kind of weird, but it was only for a little bit. Once we scored everyone went wild…that was much better!

The next night’s score was a little closer, beating College of Idaho by just nine points. It was an unusually low scoring game with a final count of 56-47. Jguwon Hogges and Ryan Beesley were the only two Owl’s to score in double figures, Jguwon with 15 and Ryan with 14. Josh Wetzler collected the most boards with 8, and Ryan Fiegi lead in assists with 8. The stats were pretty even across the board, except the Owl’s made and shot a few more baskets. Also, it was amazing that the men only committed 6 fouls throughout the entire game! COI tallied 15 total fouls, so the Owl’s must have stayed much cleaner on defense and offense. Both teams shot just six free-throws! To me, that seems crazy!

The men took care of business this weekend and still hold the tie for first place. They must stay strong and perform their best this weekend. They travel north to play Warner Pacific, who is currently tied for second with Evergreen State. Next weekend, as usual, is crucial for the Hustlin’ Owls if they want that automatic bid to Nationals.