REDDING, Calif. – Senior Seth Erickson tied his career-high of 27 points and senior Mitchell Fink earned a double-double to lead No.2 Oregon Tech (5-0) past Simpson University (1-3) 99-49 on Tuesday night at the James M Grant Center, improving their all-time record against Simpson to 42-0.
 
"That was championship level basketball tonight," said Coach Justin Parnell. "We're certainly not 50 points better than Simpson but tonight we executed our system offensively and really buckled down defensively in the second half."
 
"We're playing with a lot of confidence, but things continue to get tougher with UC Merced and Antelope Valley coming in this weekend," remarked Parnell.
 
The Hustlin' Owls opened up the game with an 8-2 run to the lead, but the Red Hawks kept the game neck-and-neck, coming back 8-0. The lead switched between the two teams over the next few minutes before Tech took over, going 15-0 to end the half with an 11-point advantage.
 
By the second, the Owls had full control, shooting at 71.9% and taking a 30-3 run to a 56-17 advantage as they ended the game at their largest lead of 50 points.
 
Erickson scored half of Oregon Tech's three-point baskets, shooting 7-of-11 and 10-of-14 overall, while also grabbing seven rebounds and five steals.
 
Fink earned an 11-point 12-assist double-double and three other Hustlin' Owls scored in double-digits, including junior Harrison Steiger with 13 points and eight boards, sophomore Lachlan McKimm with 11 points, and junior Garret Albrecht with 10 points.
 
For Simpson, Chisti Alvis-Labadie scored 14 points, Brycen Wight added another 10, and Kon Anguick scored seven.
 
The Owls led in most stats, earning a 24-4 assisting lead, a 49-21 rebounding edge, and a 37-24 bench scoring advantage.
 
The Red Hawks forced 19 turnovers but faced 19 of their own and Tech took a 22-15 advantage off their mistakes. 
 
Oregon Tech sunk 37-of-61 for a 60.7% shooting average while Simpson struggled at just 35.2%.
 
The Hustlin' Owls will return home this weekend for the Lithia-Oregon Tech Classic, taking on UC Merced on Friday and Antelope Valley on Saturday, with both games taking place at 7:30pm at Danny Miles Court.
 
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