LA GRANDE, OR. — The (R.V.) Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls (15-5, 12-0) held off an upset bid from Eastern Oregon (11-9, 5-7) for a 65-58 victory on Friday evening. The victory for Tech marks their best start to conference play in program history.
Oregon Tech 65 Eastern Oregon 58
Looking to remain perfect in CCC play, Tech headed to La Grande looking to earn a regular-season sweep over the Mountaineers.
In the game's opening five minutes, EOU used the home crowd and energetic play to jump out to an early 5-0 lead.
However, just shortly after, Matt Van Tassell hit one of his game-high four three-pointers to get Tech on the board.
Tech would remain just behind the Mountaineers until the 6:14 mark when Joey Potts finished inside to give Tech a 23-22 advantage.
From that point, Tech closed the first half on a 16-10 run, giving themselves a 39-32 lead at the break.
Kellen Gerig and Van Tassell both had nine points at the break to pace the Hustlin' Owls.
In the second half, EOU opened up with a 13-2 run to pull back ahead of Tech.
Trailing 45-44, Tech tightened up their defense, making life extremely difficult for the hosts on their home court.
Techs resolute defense shut down the Mountaineers offensive attack, holding EOU to just 14 points in the final 14 minutes of gameplay.
After doing enough on offense to keep EOU at arm's length, Tech held on for a 65-58 road victory.
Tech finished with three players in double figures:
Joey Potts: 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting
Matt Van Tassell: 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting (4-of-5 from three)
Kellen Gerig: 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds
Keegan Shivers also contributed well, scoring eight points and nabbing four steals.
Eastern Oregon was led by Phillip Malatare, who scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting.
Tech will have a chance to sweep on this road trip when they head to Caldwell to face off against #13 The College of Idaho (17-3, 11-1) tomorrow at 4pm. Tech won the previous meeting on December 3rd in Klamath Falls, posting an 83-68 blowout victory.
