COMING UP: vs. Southern Oregon, Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: All 22 Cascade Conference games will be broadcast live on radio in the Klamath Basin on Oregon's County Giant, 92.5 KLAD-FM, beginning with the Justin Parnell Coaches' Show 30-minutes prior to tip-off – an audio simulcast online through MyBasin.com and video simulcast through the Owls Sports Network. Saturday's game will have games will have Live Stats via the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT: Saturday is the annual Military Appreciation Night, presented by Winema Electric – as all active and retired military members and their families will be admitted for free to the OIT-SOU games with a valid ID.
 
MULTIMEDIA: Photos from the 2024-25 season are posted online via the OIT Men's Basketball Flickr Page, while highlight clips, including Friday's win at Eastern, posted online via the OIT Men's Basketball YouTube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – SOUTHERN OREGON: Tech plays their lone home game in the month of December on Saturday, hosting rival Southern Oregon – a squad who will play their first 11 games on the road. The Raiders (5-3, 0-2 CCC) posted a 5-1 non-conference record, but dropped both ends of the opening league road trip at College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. SOU averages 79.5 points per game on the year and posted over nine rebounds more per game than their foes – but the Raiders make just 28-percent of their 3-point shots and allow opponents to convert nearly 49-percent of their field goal chances. Southern has a mix of returners and newcomers – as guard Elijah Jackson (12.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and forwards Bryce Dyer (9.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and Joe Juhala (8.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg) have been complimented by transfers Liam Clark (10.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg) from Western Washington and Gabe Reichle (8.3 ppg, 1.4 rpg) from Oregon.
 
THE RIVAL OF ALL RIVALS: Saturday's match-up marks the 252nd meeting between the rivals, as the teams have played every season since OIT began basketball in 1947, with the Owls holding a 164-87 series edge. Tech has recorded 13 wins in the last 15 meetings – including 4-straight wins on the Raiders home floor in Ashland – with the Owls sweeping both games last season.
 
AT LEAST 100 GAMES: The Owls have faced five opponents more than 100 times in the 77 years of Tech basketball. Along with SOU, OIT has faced Eastern Oregon 192 times, Western Oregon 154 times, College of Idaho 111 times and Corban 108 times.
 
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 over 81-percent of their home games. Over the last 61 seasons Tech has played on what is now known as Danny Miles Court, the Owls hold a 788-180 overall record in the building – including an 101-20 mark under current head coach Justin Parnell. OIT has recorded a winning record in 57-of-59 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 Owls currently are 2-1 at home, looking for their 54th-straight winning season on their home floor.
 
LEADING THE NAIA IN ATTENDANCE: Heading into the weekend, the Hustlin' Owls lead the NAIA in attendance – as Tech is averaging 1,491 fans per game – ahead of College of Idaho (1,221), Spring Arbor (1,000), LC State (941) and Evangel (867). OIT averages more fans than both Portland (1,033) and Portland State (550) – as the Owls would rank No. 232 in the NCAA Division I (of 361 teams), No. 5 in the Division II and No. 2 in the Division III.
 
STILL IN THE RANKNGS: The 20 NAIA conference raters dropped Tech from the Top-25 for the first time since the start of last season (eight polling periods) – with the Owls receiving 33 voter points in the current poll. Two teams OIT has played this year are in the Top-5 – No. 2 College of Idaho and No. 4 Arizona Christian – with LC State ranked No. 15.  
 
HUGE COMEBACK IN LA GRANDE: Things did not look good for the Owls at Eastern Oregon, trailing 70-56 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. However, Tech clamped down defensively, holding the Mountaineers to just 11 points the rest of the way – with the Owls converting 63-percent of their field goals after the break, ending the game on a 17-4 run – rallying for the 85-81 win. It marked the third-straight win against their longtime rival.
 
ELMORE KEY IN THE CLUTCH: Tech turned to reserve shooting guard Jay Elmore in Friday's game at EOU, with the senior converting big shot after big shot – rallying the team for the win. Elmore finished the night 5-for-7 from 3-point range – including the go-ahead triple with 28 seconds left – giving Tech the lead for good. It marked the fifth time in Elmore's career he has converted 5-or-more 3-pointers in a game.
 
OSBORN CLOSING IN ON A MILESTONE: Another big weekend helped Kam Osborn surpass the 900-point mark for his OIT career – sitting 93 points away from 1,000 points in a Tech uniform. The veteran guard led the Owls with 19 points at Eastern, while scoring 14 points – with a career-high four steals – in Saturday's game at C of I. For the weekend, Osborn was strong from the foul line, converting 12-of-13 free throws.
 
GUERRA CONTINUES BIG YEAR: Jamison Guerra keyed the Hustlin' Owls on the trip, converting 12-of-16 field goals in the two games – including a 4-for-6 3-point performance at C of I, his second career games with four 3-pointers. The point-guard had nine points, five rebounds and four assists at EOU, scoring a season-high 21 at C of I – with Guerra leading the league in both assists per game and assist-to-turnover ration.


COOP STAYS HOT: The Owls continued to get a boost of the bench from Jackson Cooper, as the forward has logged 3-straight double-digit scoring games and six double-digit games this season. Cooper had 11 points and eight rebounds at Eastern, while adding 11 points at C of I – competing against a 7-foot post. For the year, the sophomore is averaging 12 points a game, converting 58-percent of his field goals.
 
SUPERLATIVES FROM THE ROAD: In the win at EOU, it marked Tech's first victory this season when failing to make 50-percent of their field goals (.480), while in the loss at C of I, the Owls canned 11 3-pointers (second game with 10-plus triples), improving their 3-point percentage to 36-percent – tops in the league. The club is now 5-1 when outrebounding their opponent, but are 0-2 when opponents have more rebounds. On the trip, the Owls were efficient offensively, combining for just 18 turnovers in the two games.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: The first full weekend of league play is in the books and three teams have unbeaten league records – Lewis-Clark State, College of Idaho and Corban – while two teams have yet to win a CCC contest (Southern Oregon, Warner Pacific). This week, it's a slate of travel partners meeting – Evergreen State topping Northwest on Tuesday, with Bushnell at Corban, LC State at Walla Walla and C of I at Eastern Oregon. In addition, Northwest heads to Montana to play Providence and Carroll, LC and EOU face a non-conference foe in Florida College, Warner Pacific plays Linfield, with two teams playing NCAA exhibitions (Walla Walla at Idaho State, Evergreen State at Central Washington).
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, OIT leads the conference in scoring average (86.4), 3-point percentage (.361) and assists per game (15.6), No. 2 in field goal percentage (.513), No. 4 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), No. 5 in rebound margin (+6.2) and 3-pointers made per game (8.1), No. 7 in scoring margin (+6.8), No. 9 in free throw percentage (.678) and blocks per game (1.9), ranking No. 10 in scoring defense (79.6). Individually, Jamison Guerra leads the CCC in assists per game (6.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (6.1), ranking No. 2 in 3-point percentage (.500) and No. 10 in scoring average (13.8); Blake Jensen leads the CCC in field goal percentage (.667); Jackson Cooper is No. 7 in field goal percentage (.575) and No. 10 in rebounds per game (6.9); Kam Osborn is No. 6 in free throw percentage (.889); Jay Elmore is No. 6 in 3-point percentage (.458); with Dakota Reber No. 10 in field goal percentage (.556).
 
RECORD BOOK:  Six players rank among the Top-75 of the Hustlin' Owls career record book, led by Keegan Shivers, who ranks No. 2 in 3-pointers made (245), No. 3 in 3-point attempts (611), No. 13 in rebounds (668) and points scored (1,327), No. 14 in field goal attempts (1,044), No. 17 in field goals made (454), No. 32 in assists (256), No. 37 in steals (83), No. 44 in games played (109) and free throws made (174), No. 59 in blocked shots (18) and No. 60 in free throw attempts (218). Jamison Guerra is No. 7 in assists (529), No. 13 in free throws made (247), No. 17 in free throw attempts (322), No. 23 in steals (108), No. 27 in field goal attempts (862), No. 29 in points scored (1,111), No. 34 in 3-point attempts (285), No. 37 in field goals made (389), No. 44 in games played (109) and No. 47 in 3-pointers made (86); Kam Osborn is No. 32 in 3-pointers made (103), No. 34 in 3-point attempts (285), No. 47 in free throws made (172), No. 49 in points scored (907), No. 50 in field goal attempts (703), No. 53 in assists (177), No. 54 in free throw attempts (227), No. 59 in field goals made (316), No. 63 in games played (85) and No. 69 in steals (49); Erik Fraser is No. 33 in 3-pointers made (102) and 3-point attempts (291), No. 55 in games played (94), No. 56 in steals (66) and No. 62 in blocked shots (17); Blake Jensen is No. 34 in blocked shots (33), No. 44 in free throw attempts (243), No. 56 in free throws made (163), No. 59 in rebounds (393) and No. 62 in games played (86); with Jay Elmore No. 31 in 3-pointers made (114) and No. 38 in 3-point attempts (268). In addition, Fraser sits just outside the Top-75 in points scored (726), field goals made (268), field goal attempts (574).
 
OVER 1,000-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A 3-POINTER: The 3-point shot has been key to the Hustlin' Owls success over the years, with Tech extending their string of games with a made 3-pointer to 1,024. 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 current streak, the Owls made one 3-pointer in a game on five occasions. UNLV and Duke share the current 3-point streak record (1,235), just ahead of CCC rivals Corban (1,220) and College of Idaho (1,171), along with East Tennessee State (1,169).
 
CLOSING OUT 2024: The Owls will close out the 2024 portion of the schedule next weekend with road games at Bushnell (Dec. 20) and Corban (Dec. 21). Tech is a combined 25-7 so far in the calendar year.