LA GRANDE Ore. – Despite a game high 38 points from All-American Mitchell Fink No.5 Oregon Tech (16-4, 6-4 CCC) fell to Eastern Oregon (10-9, 4-6 CCC) by an 87-84 final at Quinn Coliseum Friday Night.  
 
"I'm really proud of our effort in the second half," said OIT head coach Justin Parnell. "The first 25 minutes we struggled to guard dribble penetration and gave up a lot of easy buckets. The reality is that we've lost almost half of our team's minutes to season ending injuries. This team will be fine because of their character and heart- we just need time to figure who we are and what strengths we need to play. We have no doubt our guys will play like the champions they are."
 
The Mountaineers took a 39-30 halftime lead on 57% shooting including 5-of-10 from long range. Oregon Tech came back and outscored EOU 51-48 in the second half but fell short 87-84.
 
Lachlan McKimm added 13 points off the bench for the Owls with Garret Albrecht just missing a double-double with 11 points and nine-rebounds. Harrison Steiger added 11-points on 4-of-6 shooting.
 
The Owls will now travel to Caldwell, Idaho to take on No.3 ranked College of Idaho who downed No.15 Southern Oregon 73-72 on Friday night.