KIRKLAND, Wash. — For the second time in 10 months, Northwest University has stunned Oregon Tech.
The Eagles handed top-rated OIT an 80-68 Cascade Collegiate Conference loss Saturday to end Tech's 10-game winning streak.
Northwest had stunned OIT in the first round of the conference playoffs at the end of last season.
Saturday, the Eagles, now 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the league, made almost half their field goals and led for most of the game. There were three ties and four lead changes, the last coming when Dejwan Walker hit a shot to give the home team a 14-12 lead.
That started a seven-point surge for NU, and the Eagles would eventually take a pair of 12-point leads in the first half.
Tech would cut its deficit to three points three times in the second half, the last on a three-point field goal by
Mitchell Fink that made the score 62-59 with seven minutes left to play.
Ryan Ricks scored in the paint with 3½ minutes left to give the Eagles a double-digit lead they would hold to the end of the contest.
"We were outplayed by a very good Northwest team," OIT coach Justin Parnell said. "(Hussayn) Ford and Hakilimali is a tough 1-2 punch to guard, and Ryan Ricks really got it going in the second half. They have a lot of weapons, which makes it tough to really key on one player.
"(Northwest) is going to win a lot of games this year. We will take next week to get better and prepare for College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. This conference is as good as it's been for a long time and we look forward to playing in front of our home crowd".
Fink, who was 5-of-8 from three-point range, scored 21 points and had five assists to lead the Hustlin' Owls, who now are idle until Friday, Dec. 20, when they host College of Idaho.
Seth Erickson narrowly missed a double-double effort with 14 points and nine rebounds.
For Northwest, which had lost six straight before its weekend sweep in conference play, Ricks finished with 28 points, Ford had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Christian Hakilimali and Walker also scored in double figures.
For Tech, Saturday was the second game in a seven-game stretch in which the Hustlin' Owls played away from home.
