Hustlin’ Owls Handle No. 5 Eastern Oregon in 98-81 Win
Klamath Falls, Ore. – The Hustlin’ Owls of Oregon Tech upset the No. 5 nationally ranked Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon 98-81 at Danny Miles Court to seal their home sweep weekend.
The win for the Owls, and the loss for the Mounties, sees both teams move to 8-2 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC). Tech now ties EOU for the #1 seed in the CCC heading into the second half of conference play.
The first half of the game started with Tech jumping out to a 7-point lead before EOU closed the gap. At the 10:00 minutes mark, the game was even at 20-20. Play would wear on through the half, with the teams playing tough defense and hitting big shots. A timeout with 4:32 left in the half saw the score still tied at 35-35. The final few minutes of the half saw the Owls push their lead to 7 points, with a big 3-point shot from Tech senior, Brandon Halter, followed by a fast break layup by freshman, Mitchell Fink. The teams entered halftime at 48-41 in favor of the Owls.
The second half of play saw the Owls extend their lead to 18 points by going on a 14-3 run coming out of halftime. Tech would not let up on the offense, as they continued to stretch their lead. With 10:00 minutes remaining in the game, the score was 77-55 in favor of the Owls. The remainder of the game saw the Mounties struggle to stifle the Owls offensive onslaught as they worked to climb back into the game with no avail. The game ended with a final score of 98-81 in favor of Oregon Tech.
On the night, the Owls were led by freshman Fink scoring a career high of 27 points, while Halter added 20 points, and Joel Yellow Owl and Bryan Beard had 14 and 12 points each.
For EOU, Blake O’Donnell led the way with 16 points, while Kentrell Washington and Bryan McGriff added 13 and 11 respectively.
Oregon Tech heads to Washington next weekend to begin the second half of conference play on a 10 game win streak as they take on the Evergreen State College and Northwest University next Friday and Saturday.