Tired of playing the likes of Utah, Utah State, Pepperdine and Baylor, the Weber State basketball team welcomed a patsy on their schedule Wednesday night at the Dee Events Center - the Oregon Institute of Technology.
As expected, the Wildcats had little trouble winning 100-68, although they had trouble keeping focused the whole game, along with 3,321 fans who struggled to stay awake."Our team gets up more for the bigger teams," acknowledged Jimmy DeGraffenreid, who led Weber with 26 points in his first career start.
Coach Ron Abegglen was aware that his team was a bit lackadaisical in practice Monday and Tuesday. "We got lazy and casual," he said. So, to keep his players' attention, Abegglen juggled his starting lineup, inserting DeGraffenreid at guard and Jeff Lentfer at center in place of Ruben Nembhard and Johnnie Moore, respectively.
Against a team like Oregon Tech, an NAIA Division II school, it really didn't matter who started. By the 11-minute mark of the first half, all of the Weber starters were on the bench as everyone on the team - just 10 players total - got significant playing time. No one played more than 25 minutes or less than 14 minutes for the night.
DeGraffenreid, who also hauled down 11 rebounds, scored 14 in the first half, when the Wildcats took a 49-31 lead. In the second half, sophomore David Greer showed his stuff, scoring 14 points on his way to a career-high 17 points.
Greer also provided perhaps the most entertaining play of the night midway through the second half. He stole the ball and was heading in for a spectacular dunk. However, the ball hit the back of the iron and went straight up - at least 25 feet in the air - before returning to earth while the crowd had a good laugh (it's easy to do when your team is up by 25).
Nembhard also had a strong second half, scoring 10 of his 13 points, slicing through the Hustlin' Owls defense at will. Kirk Smith, the only Wildcat to make the all-tournament team at Baylor last week, hauled down 14 rebounds to improve on his 11.9 average. Rafid Kiti led Oregon Tech with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
So why does a major-college team like Weber State even play a team such as Oregon Tech, which has already lost to the likes of Linfield College and Albertson's (the College, not the grocery store) and doesn't play any other NCAA-level teams.
Abegglen said he'd just as soon play all NCAA Division I schools, but most schools aren't willing to play Weber State on a home and home basis.
The Wildcats now must prepare for an NBA-type schedule when they'll play three games in four nights, beginning Saturday at the University of Portland. They return home to play the U.S. Coast Guard Monday, then play at BYU Tuesday.