Klamath Falls, Ore. – The Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls fall to the Corban Warriors by a score of 74-72 on Sunday at Danny Miles Court. The loss puts the Owls tied for 4
th place with EOU, now forcing a must win situation on the road next weekend to secure a home game in the opening round of the CCC tournament.
The first half of play saw Owls and the Warriors battle for any edge in the contest. Corban jumped out to a small lead early in the half, but Tech would not let the visiting team pull away. The home team kept the score close, as the game saw the lead change hands eight times with four tied scores, as each team's point guard stepped up. At the halftime break, Corban's AJ Monterossi led his team with 11-points, while Tech's
Mitchell Fink led his team with 14-points, as the score line sat 41-36 in favor of the Owls.
Returning to the floor, the Warriors began to make a case for themselves, going on a 17-7 run and taking control of the lead. The visitors continued to play inspired, pushing their lead to as much as 12-points. Looking to get themselves back in the game, Tech battled to narrow the gap, and heading into the final minute of play saw Corban up by 4-points with the score 69-65. In the final :60 seconds both teams would have opportunities on the free-throw line, but Corban only hitting on 50% of their shots left a small window of opportunity for Tech.
Off of a missed free-throw,
Mitchell Fink found an opening from behind the 3-point stripe, hitting his shot and bringing the game within 2-points and :10 seconds left to play. A quick foul on the inbound pass sent the Warriors back to the line, hitting on 1 of 2 shots, now a 3-point difference on the scoreboard and the ball in the home teams' hands. Running the court again, Fink was fouled and put back on the line. His two made baskets, now making it a 1-point game. Corban had one more chance from the free-throw stripe, hitting 1 of 2 and putting the ball back in the hands of Fink for the final :02 seconds of the game. Fink made a valiant effort to get a shot off, rattling the iron and popping out, to see the contest end with a final score of 74-72 in the visiting teams favor.
On the night, the warriors were led in scoring by AJ Monterossi with 20-points, while Caleb Dozier had a double-double with 11-points and 11-rebounds.
The Hustlin' Owls were led by
Mitchell Fink with 23-points and 6 assists, while
Jalen Carvalho had 10-points, and
Andrew Weber grabbed 10-rebounds with 7-points.
With the loss, Tech is now tied with Eastern Oregon in a battle for 4
th place at 12-6 in CCC play. The Owls will head to La Grande, Oregon and Caldwell, Idaho for their final weekend of conference action to determine the playoff standings.
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