Second Half Surge Sends Owls Past Knights
Klamath Falls, Ore. – The No. 24 Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls put up 98 points on the Warner Pacific College Knights in the home victory, 98-80 Saturday afternoon at Danny Mile Court.
Tech senior guard, Brandon Halter, hit on his first two 3-point attempts from the floor, but the Knights were off to a quick start as they jumped out to a 12-20 lead over the Owls in the first 5:00 minutes of the game. A timeout paused the action, but only momentarily. Tech and WPC continued to exchange baskets for the next 9:00 minutes, as the Owls battled to narrow the gap. Coming off a timeout with 6:00 left in the first half, Tech freshman, Tyler Hieb, hit his first 3-pointer of the game to bring the game within 2 points at 37-39.
The gym would light up, when Halter knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give Tech their first lead of the contest at 45-42. The two teams would battle to the final buzzer of the half, with Knight’s junior, Keaton Bankofier, hitting a game tying 3-pointer with :26 seconds left on the clock. On the last possession of the half, Tech freshman, Seth Erickson, was able to find a lane to the hoop and hit on a pull-up jumper to send the Owls into the break with a 52-50 lead.
The Owls came out determined to keep the lead in the second half, as they went on a 3:00 minute 8-2 run before the Knights would hit a second shot. Both teams would exchange buckets over the next few minutes of play, before four straight turnovers for the Knights would allow Tech to stretch their lead to double-digits. Coming off a timeout with 8:30 minutes left to play, Owls guard, Mitchell Fink, found post Bryan Beard for a lay-in in the paint to extend their lead to 21 points with the score 88-67. Tech would hold on to the lead as the game came to a close with the score 98-80.
On the day, the Knights shot 39%, with four players in double digits. Leading the way was Bankofier with 15 points, while Somto Aniefuna, Collin Malcom and Charles Honest scored 12, 11 and 10 points apiece.
The Owls, shooting 60% on the day, were led by their senior class, as Bryan Beard had a career-high game leading the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the weekend. Fellow senior, Joel Yellow Owl, put in 23 points of his own as he surpassed the 1,000 career mark at OIT as he now has 1015 in just two seasons. Tyler Van Kirk and Brandon Halter had 16 points each for the Hooters in the win.
With the loss, the Knights drop to 4-9 in the CCC
The Hustlin’ Owls move to 11-3 in the CCC, as they prepare to play rivals, SOU on Tuesday, January 31 at 7:30 pm at Danny Miles Court at 7:30pm.