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Men's Basketball Evan House, Sports Information Assistant

Fourth-Seeded Mountaineers Look to Crash Top-Seeded Pilots’ Title Chances

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – After picking up its first NAIA Division II National Championship win since 2011, the No. 14 EOU men's hoops team looks to continue its run, as they battle third-ranked and top-seeded Bethel (Ind.).
 
The Mountaineers (24-8), now must faceoff against another team from the Hoosier state, this time in the top-seeded Pilots (30-4), on Friday at 5:45 p.m. CT.
 
HOW THEY ADVANCED: MOUNTAINEERS
The Blue and Gold overcame a 19-point first half deficit to sneak past fifth-seeded IU Southeast with a last second lay-in from senior guard Kentrell Washington.
 
Down by one (90-89), with 47 seconds to play, senior forward Bryan McGriff went to the charity stripe and went 1-for-2, tying the game at 90. After forcing a turnover with less than 14 seconds left, Washington took the ball two-thirds the length of the court, driving to the hoop for a layup with a second and a half remaining.
 
McGriff led the way for EOU as the Las Vegas native tallied 33 points and 10 rebounds for his 16th double-double this season. Washington added 20 points with nine boards, while freshman guard Max McCullough marked up 12 more points.
 
EOU finished with 17 treys, one three-ball short of tying the NAIA tournament record. The Mounties put up more points off the bench, 19-14 while also earning more rebounds, 41-39.
 
HOW THEY ADVANCED: PILOTS
Bethel chalked up victory over in-state foe and eighth-seeded Calumet St. Joseph in the opening round, 104-78.
 
Six Pilots scored in double figures as forward Gage Ott led the way with 19 points. Not far behind was trio of Caleb Oetjen, Paul Forman and Clay Yeo who each tallied 15.
 
In 25 minutes of action, Ott went 6-for-9 from field goal range, grabbed four boards and a steal. Despite only playing 19 minutes, Yeo went 6-for-7 from field goal range, while also shooting a perfect 1-for-1 from behind the arc.
 
As a team, Bethel shot 59.6 percent against the Crimson Wave and mopped up 42 total rebounds on the night. Forman and guard Nick Kindig each reaped six boards to lead the Pilots.
 
Despite being up by eight, 44-36 at the break, Bethel came into the second half even hungrier against Calumet as the team added 60 more points in the second half.
 
AT A GLANCE: BETHEL (Ind.)
Schedule | Roster | Stats | Athletics Website
 
Bethel is located in Mishawaka, Ind., less than 10 miles from South Bend and the campus of Notre Dame. The Pilots have carded three NAIA National Championships, in 1995, 1997 and 1998 when they beat Oregon Tech, 89-87.
 
Bethel is a diverse team, with five seniors,  three juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen. The squad earned an automatic bid out of the Crossroads League Conference (CLC) by clenching the league regular-season title and tournament title.
 
Out of the CLC, three other team made the tournament No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 15 Saint Francis and No. 25 Taylor. All four teams representing the CLC continued into the second round of the tournament.
 
Oetjen leads all Pilots in scoring average, as the guard averages 15.3 points per game. Ott has tallied the post points this season with 420, shooting 66.5 percent from field goal range. Ryan Wassink averages six rebounds a game to lead Bethel,  Oetjen also averages 3.67 assists and 1.74 steals per game to lead the squad.
 
As a team, the Pilots average over 90 points per game and shoot 51.7 percent from the field. Bethel ranks second in field goal percent and free throw percent (79.5), while also carding third in total defensive rebounds (30.3) and fourth in total scoring offense, chalking up 2,994 points this season.
 
WHERE TO WATCH IN LA GRANDE
Fans looking to cheer on the Mountaineers can watch the game live in the booster room of Quinn Coliseum or at Benchwarmer's Pub & Grill in downtown La Grande.
 
For directions to Quinn Coliseum, click here. For directions to Benchwarmer's Pub & Grill, click here.
 
LIVE STATS/VIDEO
Fans can follow live stats for free, or watch live video pay-per-view. A single-game package costs $9.95, while a championship pass costs $29.95.
Live Stats/Video Link
 
HEAD-TO-HEAD: EOU VS. Bethel
 
STAT EOU Bethel
Overall Record 24-8 30-4
Points Per Game 90.74 90.73
Field Goal Pct. 46.3 51.7
3-PT Field Goal Pct. 37.4 39.0
3-PT Field Goal Made Per Game 11.34 7.5
Free Throw Pct. 74.2 79.5
Rebounds Per Game 42.3 40.0
Assists Per Game 16.6 15.7
Turnovers Per Game 13.2 14.3
Assist/Turnover Ratio 1.3 0.9
Steals Per Game 6.3 5.9
Blocks Per Game 3.5 2.7
 
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Players Mentioned

Bryan McGriff

#22 Bryan McGriff

F
6' 7"
Senior
Kentrell Washington

#44 Kentrell Washington

G
6' 4"
Redshirt Senior
Max McCullough

#15 Max McCullough

G
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Bryan McGriff

#22 Bryan McGriff

6' 7"
Senior
F
Kentrell Washington

#44 Kentrell Washington

6' 4"
Redshirt Senior
G
Max McCullough

#15 Max McCullough

5' 11"
Freshman
G