KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Oregon Tech trimmed a 17-point deficit to a one-possession game inside the final four minutes, but a late Taylor Anderson 3-pointer helped Corban University outlast the Hustlin' Owls, 73-67, at Danny Miles Court.
The Warriors (11-3, 7-1 CCC) won their fifth-straight, scoring 22 points off of 17 OIT turnovers – withstanding a rough second half where the visitors made just 32-percent of their field goals.
OIT (6-8, 3-5) took their largest lead of the night at 17-12 after a
Blake Jensen put-back, but Corban used a 25-3 run over an eight-minute stretch, capped by a Masie Mohammadi lay-up, to grab a 37-20 edge with just under four minutes left in the half.
Tech cut the margin to 40-28 at the break and used back-to-back triples from
Kam Osborn to trim the deficit to 45-38. Seven consecutive points from
Keegan Shivers got the margin to 52-47 and a pair of
Jamison Guerra free throws got the Owls within 64-62 three minutes to play. Unfortunately for the hosts, Mateo Escheik hit a fall-away jumper and following a defensive stop, Anderson drained a head-of-the-key triple to complete the road win.
"We did a nice job is battling back to cut the deficit to two," said OIT head coach
Justin Parnell. "We needed one stop and forced an incredibly tough shot, but we didn't make any attempt to screen out and they got the rebound and hit a 3. That's been our Achilles heel, we play so hard to get ourselves in back in games, but the lack of focus in key spots is what's hurting us."
Osborn scored a season-high 18 points in the loss, Guerra scored 14 points, including 9-of-9 shooting from the stripe, with Shivers scoring 12 points, with five rebounds and five assists.
Kaison Faust scored six points with 11 rebounds off the bench,
Blake Jensen added nine points, with
Kody Bauman scoring four points, chipping in a game-high 12 rebounds and two blocks. Tech had a 45-30 edge on the glass, including 11 offensive rebounds.
Mohammadi and Escheik led the Warriors with 16 points and Anderson scored 12, as Corban made 23-of-35 free throws in the win.
OIT returns to action tomorrow afternoon, hosting Bushnell at 5 p.m.
