Oregon Tech's Mike Nieraeth Hits a Three Pointer in Win Over Eastern Oregon (Photo by Kelly Caleb)
No. 3 Oregon Tech Edges No. 18 Eastern Oregon
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The NAIA Game of the Week lived up to its billing, as No. 3 ranked Oregon Tech endured a late-game rally to escape Danny Miles Court with a 72-67 victory over No. 18 Eastern Oregon University.
Oregon Tech improves to 19-3 overall and 8-2 in the conference standings. EOU drops to 14-6 on the season and 7-3 in conference play. Oregon Tech has now won 31-straight games at home, while also holding EOU winless in Klamath Falls since February of 1979.
It took almost four minutes to break a 2-2, before the Owls doubled up Eastern, 14-7, with 12:46 remaining in the first period.
EOU would finally find a rhythm and move on to their only lead of the contest at 22-21 with 7:29 on the clock.
Tech then used a 15-4 run to secure their first 10 point lead of the game. Both teams added two points each in the final seconds before half, as the Owls still held the double digit advantage, 38-18, at intermission.
Oregon Tech stormed out of the locker room to the tune of a 12-2 run, capped by a Mike Nieraeth trey, and looked to put the game away at 50-30 with 16 minutes to go.
EOU then used an 18-8 run to cut the Mountaineer deficit in half with 10 minutes to play. EOU continued to chip away at the Owls, and used a methodical 19-9 Mountaineer run to close the gap to just 68-67 with 1:14 on the clock.
Back-to-back missed OIT free throws gave Eastern some hope, but Tech’s Miles Daley was able to time a crucial block shot on EOU’s possession to lead. After taking some time off the clock, an EOU foul would send Mike Nieraeth to the charity stripe where both clutch free throws pushed the Owls to a 70-67 lead with 33 seconds to play. An errant 3-point attempt by EOU to tie was off the mark, while an ensuing Justin Parnell rebound turned into two freebies with under 1 second on the clock. Parnell sank both and the Owls went on to settle for the five point win 72-67.
Tech ended up with three players in double digits, led by a game-high 17 points from Justin Parnell. Myles Daley netted 13 points and grabbed four boards, while Mike Nieraeth finished with 11 points and four rebounds in the Owl win.
Four Mountaineers finished in double figures with Jordan Gregg leading the way with a double-double 15 points and 12 rebounds. Cody Thurmond and Josh Cottle both finished with a dozen and Steven Sawyers 10 points in the loss.