Oregon Tech seniors Lavar Moore (L) and Austern Flint (R) were key contributors in a 78-71 win over Eastern Oregon in what is their last home game played at Danny Miles Court. (photo by Kelly Caleb)
Oregon Tech Takes Down Eastern Oregon 78-71 in Miles’ Last Home Game
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – In what was his last home game coaching on a court named in his honor, and 45 seasons pacing the sidelines in front of the home crowd, Head Coach Danny Miles led his Hustlin’ Owls from an early deficit to a 78-71 win over Eastern Oregon University in Cascade Collegiate Conference action this afternoon at Danny Miles Court.
Miles has 1,037 career victories heading down the final stretch of his coaching career and will lead Oregon Tech to Corban University and Northwest Christian University for his final two regular-season conference games on February 19 in Salem and February 20 in Eugene.
Eastern Oregon scored the first four points of the game, moving up by as many as five points, 10-5, with 12:54 remaining in the opening half.
Tech would come back to tie the game 12-all on a Lavar Moore triple. Five more ties ensued, the last at 23-all, before Moore scored the final five points to close out the first half. Tech would take a 28-23 lead into the break.
The Owls rushed out to an 11-2 run to open the second half, leading 39-25, on a Bryan Beard layup and free throw with 17:52 to play. The Owls would push out to a 23 point lead on a Brandon Halter layup, 57-34, nearing the midway point of the final stanza.
EOU, however, never went away, cutting their deficit to just seven points, 71-64, with just over one minute to play on a Trell Washington tip-in.
After the Owls came up empty on their next possession, a triple by Caulin Bakalarski drew the Mountaineers to 71-67 with 56 seconds to go.
A backdoor layup by Moore off a nice pass from Austen Flint would seal the game, as Oregon Tech led 73-67 with 24 seconds on the clock. Free throws would ice the game with Tech winning by a 78-71 final.
Lavar Moore led the Owls with a game-high 31 points. Brandon Halter followed with 13 points with Joel Yellow Owl coming away with 11 points and Austen Flint 10 points in the win. Bryan Beard grabbed a team-high six boards with Flint handing out five assists.
Trell Washington had a monster game recording a double-double with 23 points and nearly matching that with 22 rebounds. Caulin Bakalarski chipped in 27 points to go with seven rebounds in the loss for EOU.