Oregon Institute of Technology Athletics

COMING UP: vs. No. 1 College of Idaho, Friday, 7:30 p.m.; vs. Eastern Oregon, Saturday, 5 p.m.
 
92.5 KLAD-FM TO CARRY ALL 28 GAMES: All 28 regular-season men's basketball games, along with all potential postseason contests, will be broadcast live in the Klamath Basin on Oregon's Country Giant, 92.5 KLAD-FM. Hall of Famer, Bobby Thompson, returns for his 33rd year as the Voice of the Hustlin' Owls, joined by new sports information director, Mike Safford. Each broadcast begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off with the Justin Parnell Show, with fans outside the KLAD listening area able to listen online.
 
WATCH ONLINE: Fans unable to attend in person will be able to watch the games live online through the Owls Sports Network – which will feature a simulcast of the 92.5 KLAD-FM broadcast. Live Stats will also be available for all fans through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal. 
 
TICKET/PROMOTION INFORMATION: Single-game tickets ($15 for reserved seats, $10 for general admission seating, $5 general admission tickets for senior citizen, veterans and kids 6-to-17) for all home doubleheaders can be purchased beginning one hour prior to tip-off or online through the OIT Ticket Portal. Friday is $1.00 Popcorn Night, presented by Rogue Credit Union – with $1.00 popcorn offered at the concession stand. Saturday is the annual Pink Out, presented by Sky Lakes Breast Health Services – as the first 1,000 fans will receive a commemorative Pink Out t-shirt – as the Hustlin' Owls raise awareness for breast cancer.
 
OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER: It was a quality trip for the Hustlin' Owls offense – running a string of games making 50-percent or more of their field goals to three. Tech made 60-percent of their chances at Walla Walla – the third time this season OIT has converted 60-percent of their shot attempts – while making a season-best 14-of-25 shots from 3-point range. It marks the fourth time since 2002 that OIT has posted three games with 60-percent shooting in a season and the 11th time the Owls have converted 56-percent of their 3-pointers and made at least 14 3-pointers in a game.
 
ANOTHER 100-POINT GAME: The Owls have scored over 100 points in a game 190 times in program history, with Saturday's win at Walla Walla the fourth 100-point game this season. Tech has a 20-game win streak when scoring 100-or-more points in a game and 2022-23 marks the tenth-straight season the club has scored 100-points in at least one game. OIT scored 100 points in a game for the first time on Feb. 9, 1957, against Eastern Oregon (110-62) – starting a streak of 66-straight wins when scoring 100 points that stretched 33 years – with the Owls a combined 180-10 when scoring 100 points.
 
CLAMPING DOWN FROM 3: Tech limited the 3-point shot at LCSC and Walla Walla – holding the two teams to a combined 11-of-42 shooting (26-percent) from outside the arch – the fourth time in the last eight games an opponent failed to make 26-percent of their 3-point chances.
 
LOPSIDED WINS: Saturday's win at Walla Walla marked the fifth victory this season by 25 points or more – including four inside the Cascade Conference. The 44-point margin of victory was the Hustlin' Owls largest win in CCC play since the 2000-01 season – a 93-48 victory over Northwest.
 
OSBORN CONTINUES SOLID PLAY: OIT has received a big boost from point-guard Kam Osborn, as the sophomore is averaging 13.7 points per game over his last nine contests. Osborn tied a season-high with 18 points against LC State, finishing the weekend 11-of-21 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
 
SHIVERS FILLS UP THE STAT SHEET: Guard Keegan Shivers had two quality games on the road trip – scoring 16 points with six rebounds and five assists at LC State, adding nine points, five boards and four assists at Walla Walla. Shivers surpassed the 600-point total for his career on Saturday night while making his 120th career 3-pointer.
 
BAUMAN DOUBLES UP: Kody Bauman continued his big season, recording his second double-double of the year and converting 65-percent of his field goals. The transfer had 17 points and tied a season-high with 12 rebounds at Lewis-Clark State – his 11th game with 10-or-more points and his ninth game with 7-or-more rebounds.
 
LUCKY SEVEN FROM ELMORE: Jay Elmore was in the zone on Saturday, converting a season-high seven 3-pointers and scoring 21 points in the victory. Elmore made his first six 3-point attempts and became the 17th player in OIT to make 7-or-more 3's in a game – improving his team-leading 3-point percentage to 46-percent.
 
OFF THE BENCH: Redshirt freshman forward Grant Tull and senior post Jesse Higgins each recorded career-highs in Saturday's win. Tull hit the first two 3-pointers of his college career, finishing the night with eight points, while Higgins scored eight points and had three rebounds in seven minutes of action – including the first 3-pointer in his 5-year career.
 
76 THE MAGIC NUMBER: The Owls are 8-3 this season when scoring 76-or-more points in a game (and 6-0 when scoring 90-or-more points), however are 0-6 when scoring 75-points or less.
 
AT THE MIDWAY POINT: OIT finished the first half of the CCC schedule at 5-6 – with three of the six losses by 6-points or less. After playing 6-of-11 games on the road in the first half, the Owls play 6-of-11 at home the rest of the season, including 4-of-their-next-5 starting Friday night. Southern Oregon, Walla Walla and Multnomah will play seven home games in the second half, while Bushnell and Eastern Oregon will play just four.
 
OLD RIVALS: Tech will meet two of their oldest rivals this week – as College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon join Corban, Southern Oregon and Western Oregon, as the lone teams the Hustlin' Owls have faced over 100 times. OIT and C of I have played 101 previous times, with the Owls holding a 27-20 edge over the Coyotes in Klamath Falls, with Tech meeting EOU for the 188th time and posting a commanding 75-17 record against the Mounties at Danny Miles Court. EOU and OIT have met every season from 1950-2023, except for the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons.
 
AGAINST #1: Friday's game against No. 1-ranked College of Idaho is the first time since 1996 that a visiting top-ranked team has played in Klamath Falls. Life (Ga.) played Tech at the 1996-97 Cell Tech Classic, with the Hustlin' Owls picking up a 77-76 win – the only loss of the season for the eventual NAIA Division I champs. OIT has met a No. 1-ranked team nine times during the last 26 years – including wins in 2004 against Jamestown, in 2008 against MidAmerica Nazarene, in 2012 against Northwood and in 2019 against Indiana Wesleyan. Tech met No. 1-ranked C of I in the 2020 Cascade Conference championship game, dropping an 82-77 decision.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – COLLEGE OF IDAHO: The hottest team in the NAIA travels to the Basin Friday, as College of Idaho puts a 16-game win streak on the line. The Yotes (16-1, 11-0 CCC), winners of 51 of their last 53 CCC games, lead the league in scoring offense (86.2), scoring defense (64.5) and rebound margin (+10.1) – posting a staggering 36-point scoring margin over their last eight games. Reserve guard Johnny Radford (13.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 47 3FGM) leads C of I in scoring, with a trio of forwards – Drew Wyman (12.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg), Tyler Robinett (10.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Jake O'Neil (9.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg) all returning starters from last season's national quarterfinal finisher.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – EASTERN OREGON: A capacity crowd is expected for Saturday's Pink-Out Game against Eastern Oregon, as the Mountaineers (12-5, 9-2), winners of 7-of-8, search for their first season sweep of OIT since the 2012-13 season. EOU hit a season-high 16 3-pointers in the 88-73 December victory over Tech, with the Mounties averaging nine 3-point makes per game and average just over 80 points per contest. All-CCC guard Phillip Malatare (18.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg) leads the Eastern attack, with the backcourt tandem of Emmit Taylor (13.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Malachi Afework (10.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg) each averaging in double figures.
 
AROUND THE CASCADE CONFERENCE: College of Idaho holds a 2-game lead on Eastern Oregon in the CCC standings – with EOU, Warner Pacific and Corban all separated by one game – in the race to host a CCC Tournament quarterfinal game. This week, along with the two top teams heading to OIT and Southern Oregon, Bushnell and Corban head to WPU and Multnomah, with Northwest and Evergreen traveling to Walla Walla and Lewis-Clark State.
 
RECORD BOOK: Six members of the Hustlin' Owls are among the Top-75 in the OIT Men's Basketball Career Record Book. Kaison Faust ranks No. 29 in rebounds (494), No. 34 in free throw attempts (266), No. 37 in free throws made (187), No. 41 in blocked shots (26), No. 50 in games played (102), No. 52 in field goals made (324), No. 55 in steals (61), No. 58 in points scored (841) and just outside the Top-75 in field goal attempts (570) and assists (113), with Keegan Shivers No. 29 in 3-pointers made (120), No. 32 in 3-point attempts (285) and No. 66 in steals (48). Joey Potts is No. 5 in blocked shots (72); Jamison Guerra is No. 49 in assists (184), No. 69 in 3-point attempts (125), No. 71 in steals (42) and just outside the Top-75 in 3-pointers made (35); Erik Fraser is No. 65 in 3-point attempts (140) and No. 66 in 3-pointers made (49); with Kam Osborn No. 69 in 3-pointers made (69) and No. 70 in 3-point attempts (121).
 
ATTENDANCE LEADER: OIT is averaging 1,142 fans per game over the seven home games during the 2022-23 season – the No. 1 attendance mark in the NAIA. Conference rival, College of Idaho, ranks No. 2 with 910 fans per game, while Evangel of Missouri is third (693). Tech ranks No. 4 among all Oregon 4-year colleges in attendance – trailing only Oregon (5,941), Oregon State (3,351) and Portland (1,266), but well ahead of Portland State (882), Southern Oregon (380), Western Oregon (284), Linfield (240), Pacific (164), Willamette (161), Corban (155), Lewis & Clark (108), George Fox (91), Warner Pacific (62) and Multnomah (21) (Bushnell and Eastern Oregon have not reported attendance).
 
SUCCESS IN DANNY'S HOUSE: Since OIT moved to their current campus in 1964, the Hustlin' Owls have had a decisive home floor advantage inside the Athletic Center – winning nearly 82-percent of their home games. In the first 58 seasons Tech has played on what is now known as Danny Miles Court, the Owls hold a 771-173 overall record in the building – including an 84-13 mark under current head coach Justin Parnell. OIT has recorded a winning record in 56-of-58 seasons (going 5-7 in 1965-66 and 1-8 in 1970-71), including undefeated records four times (1986-87, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11). The team leads the NAIA in attendance, averaging 1,142 fans over the seven home games in 2022-23.
 
3-POINT STREAK NEARING THE 1,000 MARK: The 3-point shot has been key to the Hustlin' Owls success over the years, with Tech converting at least one 3-pointer in 971 consecutive games. OIT last failed to make a 3-pointer on Dec. 4, 1992, at Humboldt State, going 0-for-7 from outside the arch. During the streak, the Owls made one 3-pointer in a game on five occasions.
 
NEXT WEEK: Tech will close out a string of five games in nine days – playing a Tuesday date at rival Southern Oregon, before returning home for a Friday game vs. Multnomah and a Saturday contest against Warner Pacific.