EUGENE, Mo. - Eugene was hoping for one long run in the second half of Saturday night's game against Blair Oaks, but the Eagles couldn't get the shots to fall.
Of course, it's tough to get the ball through the basket with hands in your face. Blair Oaks didn't allow Eugene to get many open looks in the second half and got the needed rebounds to win 70-55 in the Eugene Tournament championship game.
"They're long, they're athletic, they contest shots," Eagles coach Craig Engelbrecht said. "They are a really, really good defensive team, even this early in the year. I hope we can learn from it."
The Eagles trailed by as many as 13 in third quarter, but cut the Falcons' lead to six early in the fourth quarter.
But anytime Eugene had a chance to get closer, Blair Oaks was there to contest shots and get points at the other end.
A pair of Trey Kempker free throws made it 56-48 with 7:28 remaining. Jason Rackers, who scored a game-high 24 points, drove the baseline for a layup to make the lead double digits.
"We expected that in the second half," Falcons coach Ryan Fick said. "We talked about that at halftime. We were able to string some good possessions together. Every time they went on a little bit of a run, we answered. A lot of times when we answered it was Jason Rackers."
The Eagles then missed their next six shots, including four from beyond the arc. Eugene finished 4-of-22 from 3-point range.
Kempker ended the drought with an inside bucket with four minutes remaining.
Zachary Bond, who led the Eagles with nine rebounds, scored a second-chance bucket 40 seconds later to cut the deficit to eight.
A free throw got the Eagles to within seven with about three minutes left, but that was as close as they could get.
"I thought we had a lot of opportunities at the basket that we just didn't quite finish on, which might have given us that run," Engelbrecht said.
Rackers grabbed his own rebound and put it through with 2:38 left to make it a nine-point game.
Rackers tied a team-high with eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals. He was the tournament MVP.
"He was a stat stuffer tonight," Fick said. "He was all over the place. And he does such a good job when they throw double teams on him by finding the open guy on the perimeter."
Ben Ward hit a short jumper with 43 seconds left and Dylan Skinner made two free throws with 17 seconds remaining for the final points of the game.
Ward pulled down eight rebounds, half coming in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we did a good job late," Fick said. "Eugene is so dangerous because they shoot a lot of perimeter shots, a lot of long rebounds and they create extra possessions for themselves because they rebound well. I thought we did a good job at limiting their second-chance points."
Eugene found its shooting stroke early in the game after falling behind 13-2 in the first four minutes of the game.
Tim Fick, who scored nine points, knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing to cap off the run.
Austin Engelbrecht answered by draining a 3 from the top of the key.
Austin Dickey made one from the corner following a Dalton Fowler steal to get the Eagles to within five.
Dickey later added a layup to cut the deficit to 13-12 with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
Engelbrecht led Eugene with 16 points, including 8-of-11 from the free throw line. Dickey added 14 points.
Thomas Verslues was the second Falcon to score in double figures with 12. Skinner scored nine.
Blair Oaks (3-0) will see Eugene (2-1) again Tuesday when the two teams play again in Eugene.