Owls Fly Past Red Hawks on Halters Career High Night
Matt Munhall
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.- The Oregon Tech men’s basketball team opens the 2016 campaign at home on Danny Miles Court against the Red Hawks of Simpson University. This game marks the first contest of a new era for the Hustlin’ Owls under the direction of head coach Justin Parnell.
The game tipped off with the Owls gaining the first possession of the season. After two defensive stops on either end of the court, senior Brandon Halter opened the scoring with the first 3-pointer of the contest. The Owls would jump out to an 8-2 lead before back and forth action on both ends of the court would bring the score to 8-7.
Three big defensive stops by the Owls would be converted into Tech points on the offensive end, as the Owls would jump out to an 18-9 lead. Halter would continue hitting his 3-pointers, as he made his next three shots, with the Owls making a 16-3 run on the Red Hawks. With 9:30 left in the half a timeout would be called, the score siting 33-17 in favor of Oregon Tech.
The Red Hawks would come out of the time out and make a push to close the gap, scoring the next 6 points before the Owls could respond. Defensive stands by both teams would see the scoring slow down, until Tech found a rhythm again with three straight field goals. The final 3:00 minutes of the half would see both teams end on a strong note scoring 10 points apiece, taking the score at the half to 49-38 in favor of the Owls.
At half time for Tech, Brandon Halter would lead the scoring with 19 points, hitting 5 of his 9 3-point attempts, while Joel Yellow Owl adds 11 points and 7 rebounds, and Brian Beard contributing 9 points and 6 boards for the team.
For Simpson, freshman Sean Smith leads the way with 12 points, while teammates Justin Beskeen and Alex Huerta add 9 points and 7 points, while both grabbing 5 rebounds apiece.
The second half would start out with the Red Hawks hitting 1 free throw and a three pointer, before sophomore guard Jalen Carvalho could find Yellow Owl with a pass over the top of the defense that Yellow Owl converts for the ally-oop lay in. Two strong defensive stops for the Owls lead to a Halter 3-pointer and another Yellow Owl field goal before Simpson was able to find the basket again, taking the score to 57-44.
Both teams looking to push the pace of the game and would find quality looks at the hoop, as buckets were exchanged with the double digit lead being maintained by the Owls over the next 8 minutes of play. Tech would go on to 12 to 2 run over the Red Hawks, extending their lead to 20 points, taking the score to 77-57 before a Simpson U. timeout. Simpson would come out better organized, disrupting the Tech offense, and going on an 11-18 run, closing the lead to 13 points before a Tech timeout was called with the score 88-75.
The teams would continue exchanging buckets, with the Owls refusing to give up their lead for the next 3:30 minutes, before three straight turnovers for the Owls would allow the Red Hawks to bring the game within 8 points with just more than a minute to play. The final minute would see Tech close out the game by moving the ball and hitting 3 of 4 free throws to end the game 99-88 for Oregon Tech’s first win of the season.
The Owls were led in scoring by Brandon Halter with 29 points, shooting 50% on the night, hitting on 7 of his 14 attempts from the 3-point line and 9 of 18 on field goals. Joel Yellow Owl picks up a double-double adding 21 points and 10 rebounds, while seniors Brian Beard and Chris Faust contributed 15 points apiece, each grabbing 9 and 8 rebounds respectively.
Simpson had four shooters in double digits, with Joseph Bosetti leading the way with 24 on the night, while teammates Sean Smith, Justin Beskeen and Josh Brakkee added 18, 15 and 12 points each.
Coach Parnell, picking up his first win as a head coach, comments after the game, “We played well offensively. We still have some things to work on with our defense, but I am pleased with the way we played for our first game.”
The Owls start the season 1-0 as they hit the road to California next week as they take on William Jessup University on Friday night and Menlo College on Saturday afternoon at the Bill Holtz Classic.