No. 24 Owls Upset No. 20 Warner Pacific
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PORTLAND, Ore. – After falling behind by 12 points in the first half, No. 24 Oregon Tech (5-1 CCC, 14-4) managed to tie the game at 30 by halftime then outscored No. 20 Warner Pacific (8-5, 2-3 CCC) 45-41 in the second half to pull off the 75-71 win on Sunday night at Bart Valentine Court.
"Another gutty win for our guys, said head coachJustin Parnell. "On a night when we struggled offensively, it was our defense yet again that kept us in the game. Back to back games on the road we got huge plays down the stretch from our vets."
WP started strong with a 12-2 run, taking the lead early in the first half. The Owls, however, whittled down their lead and finished the period with an 8-0 run to tie the score 30-30.
The second half saw an 11-3 run from Tech as they widened the gap, and though the Knights tied the score 69-69 in the last minute, it was OIT that emerged victorious.
Two free throws from junior Mitchell Fink ended the game and gave Fink game high honors with a total of 21 points. Freshman Kaison Faust followed with 14 points and junior Kellen Gerig notched 12 and grabbed 7 rebounds.
For Warner Pacific, Gabe Garrett led with 20 points, with Collin Malcolm tallying 14.
The Hustlin' Owls led 36-26 in the paint but had trouble at long range, shooting 28.6% to WPU's 58.3% average.
Both teams committed 18 turnovers, but the Knights were able to better capitalize on the Owls mistakes, outscoring them 20-14 in points off turnovers.
Tech held a 39-27 advantage in rebounding.
The Hustlin' Owls will travel to Ashland, Oregon on January 8th to play Southern Oregon University at 7:30 pm before returning to Klamath Falls to host Corban University and Northwest Christian University on the 11th and 12th respectively.
Press release from Oregon Tech Sports Information
Next Game
@ Southern Oregon University
1/8/19 | 7:30 PM