KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Oregon Tech's (16-3, 6-3 CCC) senior
Mitchell Fink tallied eight assists against Corban University (9-11, 3-7 CCC) on Saturday night at Danny Miles Court, with the fifth earning him the title of All-Time OIT Assist Leader as he passed previous record holder Todd Matthews, who tallied 797 assists during his run from 2001-2004. The team ended the night with a much-needed Cascade Conference victory, winning 99-88.
"Really proud of our guys for gutting out 3 games in 4 days," said head coach
Justin Parnell. "Our offensive efficiency has been very good for the past few weeks and that certainly carried us tonight when we couldn't get the key stops in the first half."
The Hustlin' Owls opened up the game with a 10-2 run to an early lead. A 9-2 run dominated by sophomores
Matt Van Tassell and
Lachlan McKimm put the team up eight points. The lead was further extended as Tech went 10-for-3 later in the half with the help of three-point baskets from senior
Jordan Henderson and junior
Harrison Steiger.
The #5 ranked team continued into the second with the same vigor, going 13-3 to a 16-point advantage. The Warriors dropped a 9-3 run of their own in the half, cutting the deficit to only 10 points but failing to pull closer.
Steiger and Fink had a game high 25-points each, with Fink also adding eight rebounds along with his eight assists and Steiger grabbing six boards and two steals. The 25 points was a career high for Steiger, who tied with his previous record of 18 in last night's game. Senior
Seth Erickson scored 18 and shot 2-of-4 from long range and junior Garrett Albrecht added nine boards to the effort.
On Corban's side, Jason Smarr led the scoring with 23 points, scoring 4-of-7 from long range. AJ Hodges followed up with 21 points and six assists, while Denis Kirichenko tallied 11 points and six rebounds.
The Owls took a 44-29 rebounding advantage and earned 20 second chance points from 33 defensive rebounds. The team also shot at 59.7% on the night.
The Warriors took a 30-20 edge from their bench and forced 12 turnovers while only committing nine of their own.
The Hustlin' Owls will be back in action next weekend as they travel to La Grande, Oregon to take on Eastern Oregon on Friday at 7:30 pm and Caldwell, Idaho to take on College of Idaho on Saturday at 6:30 pm.
The team will return home on the weekend of the 31
st, taking on Northwest University on January 31
st and Evergreen State on February 1
st for the 11
th annual Pink Out.
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