Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
Fink's 42 points sink Raiders against OIT
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Mitchell Fink scored 29 of his career-high 42 points in the second half to rescue Oregon Tech in an 86-79 win against Southern Oregon, ending the Raiders' five-game winning streak Wednesday night at Mountain Avenue Gym.
A 20-6 Raider run capped by
Aaron Borich's four-point play put the Owls (18-8 overall, 11-5 Cascade Conference) down 54-41 with 13:31 left to play before they turned Fink loose. The sophomore point guard made nine of his 11 attempts from that point on, finishing 17-of-26 with six assists and four rebounds.
After keeping the Owls to 41 percent shooting in the first half, SOU (15-8, 10-4) watched them shoot 60 percent in the second. The loss was the Raiders' first at home in seven CCC games and put them in a second-place tie with Eastern Oregon and Warner Pacific.
Five Raiders scored in double figures:
Jordan Hunt (19 points, 7 rebounds),
Tristen Holmes (16 points, 6 assists), Borich (14) and
Tate Hoffman (10 points, 7 rebounds). But after a Hoffman 3-pointer put them up 67-64 with 6:20 left, they went without a field goal and committed four turnovers the rest of the way aside from Borich's put-back just before the final buzzer.
OIT went ahead on Fink's free throws with five minutes left, which broke a 68-all tie and marked the beginning of a 9-0 rally. On the very next possession, Fink dished off to Seth Erickson for a 3-pointer from the wing.
Andrew Weber had 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks for the Owls, and Erickson scored 11 off the bench.
SOU plays back-to-back games at last-place Walla Walla (Wash.) this weekend – at 2 p.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Saturday.