Carollo Carries Mounties to Avoid Upset

Carollo finished with a game-high 25 points for EOU.

Salem-News.com Sports

EUGENE, Ore. - Mark Carollo made sure that Eastern Oregon would remain undefeated in conference play, scoring five points in the final minute to pull away from an upset minded Northwest Christian College on Friday night. Ranked #6 in the NAIA, the Mounties pulled out a 75-68 win improving to 5-0 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.

The Mounties blitzed NCC out of the blocks, hitting back-to-back three pointers followed by a jumper by Carollo as they went ahead 8-0. EOU continued to lead, 25-19 with 12 minutes to play when the Beacons used a Josh Jarrett jumper and a Peter Nelson three-point play for a 5-0 run and a one-point deficit.

Northwest Christian took their first lead with 5:46 to play, grabbing a 30-29 edge off a Jarrett put-back. Carollo answered with a three-pointer and the Beacons waited to grab a second lead with 1:50 to play. Jordan Whittenburg’s third three-pointer of the half put NCC ahead 40-39 before Jeremy Templeton scored a fast-break layup in the final minute to give Eastern the 41-40 half-time advantage. Carollo had 14 points in the half while Jarrett scored ten for the Beacons along with six rebounds.

NCC tied the game once again just 2:30 into the second half on an Andrew Miller layup and consecutive jumpers from Miller would later give the Beacons a 54-50 lead. The game remained close until the 5:33 mark when EOU began to look to have the game under control, leading 66-62 after a jumper from Neil Fryer. NCC, however, charged back with five straight free-throws on six attempts from Peter Nelson and Miller to grab a 67-66 lead with just under three minutes to play.

After a pair from the charity stripe for the Mounties, Miller was again at the line, hitting 1-of-2 to knot the score at 68-68 with 1:20 remaining. Carollo scored a layup-and-one on the next possession for a 71-68 lead and after a Beacon turnover and foul, put in two more free throws to pull the Mounties away. A cheap dunk from Fryer in the final seconds gave EOU the deceptive seven-point win.

NCC (5-10, 2-3 CCC) had five players in double-figures led by 13 from Whittenburg. Miller, Jarrett, Andrew Williams and Nelson all added 12 points. The Beacons out-rebounded EOU 37-35 and out-shot the Mounties 45% to 43%, but Eastern Oregon scored 25 points off of 17 NCC turnovers, creating much of the difference in the ball game.

Carollo finished with a game-high 25 points for EOU (12-1, 5-0), adding a team-best eight rebounds. He was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. Fryer finished with 12 points and Kyle Janke came off the bench to score eleven.

The Beacons continue conference play on Saturday night when they play host to The College of Idaho. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 against the Coyotes (5-9, 2-2 CCC).

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