Joel Yellow Owl scores two of his 24 points.
Owls End Losing Streak at Evergreen's Expense
Oregon Tech ended a 10-game Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball losing streak on Sunday afternoon with a 94-81 victory over The Evergreen State College in CRC Gymnasium.
The Owls (8-3 overall, 1-3 CCC) last won in conference play on Jan. 30, and included in that losing streak was a 73-71 defeat to Evergreen last Feb. 6 here at CRC Gymnasium.
For much of the game it looked like the losing streak was going to continue as the Geoducks (5-7, 2-3) built a 12-point lead in the first half by way of the three-point basket. The hosts were 9-for-18 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, including 3-for-4 accuracy from both Alix Hernandez and Frankie Johnson. That duo scored 15 and 13 points, respectively, in helping Evergreen take a 47-45 lead at the intermission.
Oregon Tech, which held a pair of six-point leads in the first three minutes, stayed in the game by virtue of 17 points from Derek Evans and 61 percent shooting, including 7-for-12 accuracy on long-range shots.
There were five ties and three lead changes in the final 20 minutes. Evergreen went to its big man, Danny Powell, for 18 of his team-high 24 points in the closing half, while Oregon Tech's Lavar Moore scored 20 of his game-high 30 and Joel Yellow Owl 16 of his 24 at the other end of the floor.
Evergreen took its largest lead of the second half at 69-61 on Powell's three-point basket with 11:09 to play, but Oregon Tech replied with 10 unanswered points to take a 71-69 advantage. Derek Evans and Andrew Weber hit big three-pointers in the middle of the run.
The Geoducks were able to draw even on three occasions after that, but they could not score the needed go-ahead basket. The Owls eventually iced the game by hitting 13 of their 14 free throws over the final 2 ½ minutes.
Powell led the Geoducks in scoring for the seventh time this season with 24 points, and he added eight rebounds. Hernandez finished with 20 points and team highs of 10 rebounds and five assists, while Johnson ended the game with four three-pointers and 16 points.
The Geoducks shot just 28 percent in the second half and finished at 43 percent (26-for-20) for the game. Their three-point shooting dropped off as they were 3-for-14 over the final 20 minutes.
Moore hit four three-pointers and was perfect on eight free throws in scoring his 30 point, while Yellow Owl shot 9-for-11 from the field in scoring 24. Evans ended the game with 22 points as the Oregon Tech trio combined for 76 of the team's 94 points.
The Owls shot 59 percent (32-for-54) from the field, 55 percent (11-for-20) from three-point range and 86 percent (19-for-22) at the charity stripe. They also enjoyed a 34-28 edge in rebounding, led by Evans with a game-high 12. Yellow Owl led all players with six assists.
Evergreen returns to action at the end of the month with conference road games at College of Idaho on Dec. 30 and Eastern Oregon on Dec. 31.