KIRKLAND, Wash. – Down a single point with 8.1 seconds on the clock, Oregon Tech's Scotty Burge put back the game winner on an offensive rebound, pushing the Owls (8-2 CCC, 17-5) to a 69-68 win over Northwest University (2-8 CCC, 10-12) on Friday night at Kristi Brodin Pavilion.
"We stole one tonight," said Head Coach Justin Parnell. "Kudos to Northwest. They played inspired and confident. We certainly weren't our best the first 38 minutes, but we sure were the final two."
Tech suffered an early disadvantage as the Eagles pulled off a 10-0 run in the beginning of the first half before riding a 10-2 run to their largest lead of 12 points. By the end of the half, however, the Owls had halved the lead, ending 36-30.
The second half saw OIT wear down the lead even further before taking a 10-2 run into the lead. Northwest immediately countered with an 8-0 run that put them up seven points with only four minutes left on the clock, which only made Tech play harder - scoring six points in the final minute to take the victory.
Junior Mitchell Fink led the Hustlin' Owls with 14 points and seven rebounds and his steal led to the Burge game winner, with fellow junior Tyler Hieb adding nine points and sophomore Garret Albrecht notching eight points and grabbing six rebounds.
For the Eagles, Hussayn Ford tallied 19 points to take game high honors, and also grabbed 13 rebounds for a double-double. Josh Meyer and Ryan Ricks followed with 13 points apiece, with Ricks also grabbing nine rebounds.
The team effort of Tech brought them the victory, with every player adding at least four points to the total, contributing to a 26-5 advantage from their bench.
Northwest held a 40-34 edge in rebounding and also added 16 assists to OIT's nine.
NU suffered from the free throw line, with a 29.4% average, giving the Owls an 11-5 advantage from the charity stripe.
Tech forced 13 turnovers while committing 13 of their own.
The Hustlin' Owls will remain in Washington to play the Evergreen State College on Saturday at 7:30 pm before returning to Klamath Falls to play Warner Pacific on Friday, Multnomah on Saturday, and Southern Oregon University on Tuesday, with all three games taking place at 7:30 pm at Danny Miles Court. That weekend also marks Oregon Tech's 10th Annual Pinkout to fight against cancer on Saturday Night, with the first 1000 fans receiving a free t-shirt.
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