PORTLAND, Ore.—Hitting three three-pointers in the opening minutes to open up a quick lead, No. 19-ranked Oregon Tech controlled Concordia 93-81 in Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday night.  

 

With the result, OIT improved to 10-2 overall and 2-0 in CCC contests while CU fell to 4-6 overall and 0-2 to start league play.

 

After a Joseph Foster layup put OIT up 2-0, Concordia’s Jourdan Sweeney responded with a layup of his own to tie the game at 2-2, but the Owls would strike for a trio of long-ranged shots, including two from Matt Smith, to stake a 15-7 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the first.

 

The lead would soon expand to as many as 18 with another Foster layup, this time with 7:27 left in the first half to give the visiting Owls a 37-19 advantage.

 

Concordia managed to climb back into the game eventually cutting the deficit to 10 on a Kevan West bucket with six minutes remaining, but OIT used a seven-point run to end the period which was capped by a three from Mihajlo Matic to once again put distance on the Cavs.  

 

Oregon Tech went up by as many as 23 points in the second half before settling for the 12-point win following a 14-3 Concordia spurt to end the game.

 

Both teams shot well from the floor with Oregon Tech finishing with a 59.6 shooting percentage compared to a 57.1 rate for the Cavaliers. After shooting 46.9 percent in the first half, Concordia hot 17-of-24 shots in the second for a sparkling 70.8 shooting percentage.

 

The Owls connected on 10-of-19 from three-point territory with six different players recording at least one three. Foster finished with a team-high 24 points which was aided by a perfect 13-of-13 performance from the free throw line. Kyle Gomez followed with 16 points while Bryant Sentman and Smith also reached double figures with Sentman ending the game with 13 and Smith 11 points. Helping OIT to a 31-23 edge in rebounds, Brent Johnson grabbed 10 boards to post a game-high.

 

CU’s West hit 10-of-12 of his attempts to tie Foster for the game high. Jourdan Sweeney added 18 on 7-of-11 shooting while Adam Herman added 17 on a 7-of-9 night.

 

Concordia returns to action on December 10 when it travels to face Willamette University. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. in Salem, Ore. Oregon Tech will host College of Idaho on December 17 to continue CCC action.