March 12, 2008

Seventh seed Eastern Oregon defeated Edward Waters (Fla.) 93-62 in the sixth game at the 2008 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championships. The event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

 

Wednesday's contest was the first national tournament game for both teams. Edward Waters got off to a quick start, scoring the first seven points of the game. Eastern Oregon scored their first basket of the game at the 17:17 mark and that sparked a 20-2 run, which led to a 38-16 lead at the break. Eastern Oregon outscored the Tigers 25-12 over the first eight minutes of half and led by as many as 33 points en route to the win.

 

Eastern Oregon had three players in double figures, including starters Mark Carollo (18), Neil Fryer (14) and Paul Carollo (12). The Mountaineers, who shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, also got 20 points from Dan Blanchard who played 22 minutes off the bench.

 

Edward Waters managed only 32 percent from the field and the Tigers were led by senior Jeffrey Wimbush who led all scorers with 25 points. Arnold Henry finished with a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds as the Tigers end their season at 20-12 overall.

 

Eastern Oregon is now 26-5 overall and will face either the 10th seed and host school, College of the Ozarks, or Indiana-Southeast in the second round on Friday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. The 32-team, single elimination tournament concludes Tuesday, March 18.