WPU Survives Oregon Tech, Advances to Tourney Title Game
PORTLAND, Ore. – Warner Pacific rallied from an 11 point deficit to edge Oregon Tech, 73-72, in a CCC Tournament Semifinal game at Bart Valentine Court tonight.
The Knights return to the CCC Championship final for the 6th time – the last in 2016 - with a 3-2 record in title games including crowns in 2007, 2008, and 2013. WPU will travel to No. 4 ranked College of Idaho for Tuesday's final, who were 67-50 winners over Southern Oregon.
The matchup between the 2nd seeded Knights and 3rd seeded Owls was a slugfest, just as expected. The lead changed hands several times in the first half, though OIT edged in front by four (40-36) at halftime thanks to consecutive baskets from Ephraim Church in the final minute. Mitchell Fink scored 11 first half points for the Owls, while
Collin Malcolm and
Xavier Cannefax had 12 each for WPU.
Oregon Tech continued their solid play and forged the aforementioned 11 point advantage (59-48) with 11:40 remaining thanks to stingy defense and three pointers from four different players. That is when fortunes turned in the home team's favor, as the Knights ripped off 10 straight to climb right back into the contest.
The Knights took the lead for good after Cannefax drove for a layin with 2:45 on the clock - two of the senior's six points in the closing moments. The Hustlin' Owls did not go quietly, with Seth Erickson making two free throws with 41 seconds left to make the score 69-68.
Brandon Bell muscled down the lane and scored to give WPU a three point lead, then the Knights forced OIT into a turnover.
Cannefax made two free throws with .14 on the clock to push the lead out to five, but after an OIT miss from distance, a strange turn of events led to a technical foul on WPU for hanging on the rim. Erickson made the free throw, and Fink drained a trey at the buzzer to close the gap to a single point at the finish.
Warner Pacific moved to 23-8 on the season, while Oregon Tech fell to 22-10.
Mitchell Fink led Oregon Tech with 17 points, but mustered only six after halftime. Tyler Hieb added 11 points.
Xavier Cannefax finished with a game-high 19 points, with Collin Malcom (16) and
De'Jon Bowman (12) adding double figure scoring for Warner Pacific.
The 2018 CCC Championship game versus College of Idaho will be broadcast live on ROOT SPORTS Tuesday Feb. 27th at 7:06 p.m. PST and 8:06 p.m. MST. The network reaches approximately 3.2 million households across five states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska), and delivers more than 350 live events each year – all of which are available in high definition. Fans can use the Channel Finder at rootsports.com to find the channel in their area on cable or satellite television. The game will also be available on all digital platforms for ROOT SPORTS subscribers.