Thunderbirds Stun #1 Oregon Tech
BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. - Ryan Barker hit a clutch three pointer and Jared Mace made two pressure free throws in the final minutes as Cascade upset #1 ranked Oregon Tech 76-72 at a wild Thunderdome tonight in CCC action.
With the victory the Thunderbirds improve to 9-6 overall and 2-5 in CCC play, winning their second game in a row after dropping their first 5 conference tilts.
Oregon Tech (17-2, 7-2) was the aggressor in the first half, leading by as much as 8 with 6:35 to play. Cascade battled back within one point on a Ryan Barker layup before Christian Cavanaugh provided the 39-36 Owl lead at the break with a jump hook.
The second half was an exciting twenty minutes as the lead changed hands 9 times and score was tied 6 times. OIT managed a 6 point advantage with 4:28 to play, but Ben Pawlak hit a jumper and nailed 2 treys in a 70 second span to regain a T-Bird advantage.
Cavanaugh tied the game with a free throw at the 1:37 mark, which Cascade answered with the Barker trifecta. Tech's Jguwon Hogges made a strong move to the rim and was fouled, but only managed one of two. Forced to foul, OIT put Mace on the line and he calmly sank both to provide the final margin.
Erving Adams put in perhaps his best game as a T-Bird with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Pawlak dropped in 24 points and had 4 assists.
Cavanaugh and Hogges each contributed 13 points to lead Oregon Tech.