Western Oregon Journal

Issue date: 11/26/08 Section: Sports

Junior center Gabe Thrash (55) goes for an open layup in the DII Phoenix Inn Shootout against Chico State.

Seniors forward Stanley Ratcliff, Jr. (32) works the ball up the floor in Western's first round game against the Wildcats.

The first round of the DII Phoenix Inn Shootout had the Western men matched up against Chico State.
Western got out to a quick 12-6 lead but seemed to get complacent as they missed three open layups in a row. Western received some early help as Chico was over the foul limit by the 11:30 mark.
As Western sat comfortably with a 21-9 lead, Chico took advantage of Western's 10 fouls and seven turnovers, going on a 22-8 run to take a 31-29 lead, and led Western at halftime 43-39, despite Western's 53 percent shooting.
Forward Mike McLaughlin led the team in scoring with 12 points at the half, and Sam Kelly led in rebounds with four.
"We just got complacent in the first half, and made things difficult for ourselves," said coach Craig Stanger.
The second half of play brought more excitement with a close score. Chico jumped out to a 10-point, 53-43 lead, but a crucial shot by McLaughlin gave Western a one-point, 61-60 lead.
Chico and Western traded points, but McLaughlin and senior Travis Kuhns increased Western's lead to 77-68 and Western pulled away with a tight 81-77 victory to advance to the championship round against Saint Martin's.
McLaughlin scored 19 points in the second half and achieved a career high 31 points for the game. He also had six assists.
Kuhns put up 21 points and Kelly had a team- leading nine rebounds.
Gabe Thrash came into the game and made a huge impact. He made a block on a Chico shot, which he blocked off of the backboard. Thrash also contributed with three defensive rebounds and one assist.
"We showed resilience, but we have to stop digging holes for ourselves," Stanger said after the game one victory. "We were able to put a good game together. Gabe did well on defense and McLaughlin was big tonight and gave Chico a hard time with his defense. Gabe has good athletic skills and I am very excited for him."
The championship round was bizarre, to say the least. Neither Saint Martin's nor Western had a lead that was greater than six points.
It was a championship game that saw 11 ties and 11 lead changes. Western started the game fast as they jumped out to a 10-4 lead, but just could not take care of the ball. As they turned the ball over 18 times in the first half. On a positive note, Western had 22 rebounds.
Both Western and Saint Martin's were over the foul limit by the 9:30 mark in the first half. Western lost a 24-20 lead on turnovers. Kuhns hit a huge three-point shot and got fouled to give Western a four-point play and a 34-33 lead, and a small 44-41 lead on Saint Martin's going into halftime, despite Western's 57 percent shooting from the floor.
Travis Kuhns led the team at the half with 13 points, and Mike McLaughlin led the team with six rebounds. "We turned the ball over more in the first half than in the entire game," said Coach Stanger on the first half of play.
Saint Martin's came out hard in the second half as they regained a four-point 54-50 lead. The game reached a 66-66 tie with 10:30 left. Freshman Kyle Long came off the bench scoring 11 of his 19 points in the second half, and giving Western a 70-66 lead.
At 6:50 the score was once again tied, at 73. At the 3:30 mark, Western seemed to stop playing as Saint Martin's took an 89-82 lead with under one minute to play, and won the Phoenix Inn Shootout Championship 93-89, bringing Western's record to 2-1.
Western finished the game with 27 turnovers. Kuhns had a team-leading 32 points, and McLaughlin led the team with 13 rebounds.
"We were able to defend well in stretches, and follow the game plan, we just had too many turnovers. We will not be good until we clean up taking care of the ball," said Stanger.
Western will take on Linfield on Nov. 29 at New PE at 7 p.m.

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