Hustlin’ Owls play at SOU Tonight in CCC Semifinals
Men's Basketball
February 29, 2020
LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS |LISTEN LIVE on KLAD-FM
ASHLAND, Ore. – The No. 8 ranked Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech (25-6) will travel to Ashland to play No.7 Southern Oregon (23-6) at 7:00 pm tonight in the 2019-20 Cascade Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Championship, presented by U.S. Bank at the Lithia Pavilion.
The Raiders haven't hosted Oregon Tech in postseason play since 1999, and the teams haven't matched up while both adorned with top-10 rankings since 2005. The two teams split the regular-season series, with their third matchup laying it all on the line. SOU came back from 17 points down to claim the first meeting by one point in Ashland, leading only for the final five seconds of the night, and OIT evened the series with a four-point win in Klamath Falls, as
Mitchell Fink scored 28 to keep the Owls ahead for the duration of the second half.
Due to their respective positions in the national coaches' poll, both SOU and OIT are assured at-large bids at worst when the 32-team NAIA Division II National Tournament bracket is announced Wednesday. Top-ranked College of Idaho earned the CCC's first automatic bid – becoming the only team in conference history to get through the regular season unbeaten. The second CCC automatic bid will go to the tournament champion, unless C of I repeats, in which case it will be awarded to SOU for finishing second in the regular season standings.
In conference play, the Owls' offensive rating of 121 (points per 100 possessions) was the CCC's highest in the last decade. They run through Fink (19.5 points), who is likely to become a three-time CCC Player of the Year and ranks second nationally in assists at 7.2 per game.
Erickson, another All-American senior, missed nine CCC games due to injury but has picked up where he left off since returning three games ago. He posts 17.2 points per game and shoots 50 percent from 3.
As the top seed last year, OIT was upset in the quarterfinals by Northwest (Wash.) before making a run to the NAIA DII title game. The Owls last won the CCC Tournament in 2012, the same year they won their last National Championship.
In the Quarterfinals
Four days after defeating Warner Pacific University in the regular-season finale, the Raiders ended the seventh-seeded Knights' season Wednesday with an 82-65 quarterfinal victory. Senior forward Tate Hoffman scored 26 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Senior forward Jordan Hunt added 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while sophomore guard Teron Bradford logged 11 points, six assists and six boards.
Senior guard
Mitchell Fink scored 22 points in the second half and junior forward
Garret Albrecht earned a career high 24 points on Wednesday night at Danny Miles Court to lead the Owls to an 87-83 victory over Northwest Christian University. Albrecht also grabbed six rebounds, while Fink also had eight assists. Junior guard
Harrison Steiger scored 15 points, three steals, and one of the Owl's two blocks.
CCC CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
WEDNESDAY – QUARTERFINALS
(1) College of Idaho 85, (8) Corban 67
(2) Southern Oregon 82, (7) Warner Pacific 65
(3) Oregon Tech 87, (6) Northwest Christian 83
(5) Eastern Oregon 60, (4) Northwest 56
SATURDAY – SEMIFINALS
6 p.m. – Eastern Oregon at College of Idaho
7 p.m. – Oregon Tech at Southern Oregon
TUESDAY – CHAMPIONSHIP
7 p.m. – Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed
