COMING UP: at Bushnell, Friday, 7:30 p.m.; at Corban, Saturday, 5 p.m.

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK
 
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 – with an audio simulcast online through MyBasin.com. Both weekend games will also have Live Video – Friday through Bushnell's YouTube Channel and Saturday via Corban's HUDL Channel, with Live Stats available through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
MULTIMEDIA: Photos from the 2024-25 season, including Saturday's win over Southern, are posted online via the OIT Men's Basketball Flickr Page, while highlight clips are posted online via the OIT Men's Basketball YouTube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – BUSHNELL: The final road trip of 2024 heads to the Willamette Valley, starting at Bushnell, as the Beacons (5-4, 1-2 CCC) look to rebound after a slow start to league play. The Eugene school has had ups and downs – wins over MSU-Northern and Hope International, but losses to Carroll and Simpson – averaging 83 points a game and converting 45-percent of their field goal attempts. Returners Cory Johnson (16.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Luke Smith (10.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg) anchor the Beacons attack, with newcomers Kaleb Burnett (10.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and Squeeky Johnson (9.3 ppg, 2.2 apg) providing a boost. The Owls swept three meetings last season – including a 97-94 win in the CCC quarterfinals, with Tech holding a 56-16 all-time series edge.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – CORBAN: Tech makes the short drive up I-5 to Salem on Saturday to meet Corban, as the Warriors (5-4, 3-0) put a 5-0 home mark and a perfect league record on the line. Defense is the calling card for Corban, allowing just 66 points per game – forcing 15 turnovers a night, while the team leads the CCC in 3-point percentage (.361). A new-look line-up has four transfers leading the club, led by Ben Krystkowiak (11.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and Luc Krystkowiak (11.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg) – the sons of former Milwaukee Bucks and University of Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak – with Spivey Word (14.0 ppg, 1.8 apg) and Drayton Caoile (11.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg) adding a scoring punch. OIT swept the season series last year and hold a 74-34 all-time series edge.
 
TOUGH TRIP: The Willamette Valley adventure is typically a tough trip for the Owls since Bushnell and Corban became travel partners in 2009-10. Over the last 14 years (not including the spring COVID season), OIT swept the two games three times (2011, 2016, 2024), were swept three times (2017, 2018, 2023) and split the two games eight times.
 
TECH NEED EXTRA 10 TO TOP SOUTHERN: Saturday's rivalry game with Southern Oregon was an all-timer – as OIT outlasted the Raiders, 97-94, in a double-overtime thriller. Tech held a 10-point second half lead, but watched as SOU rallied late – with the Owls surviving two missed SOU free throws that would have won the game (one with less than a second left in regulation, another inside the final 10 seconds of the first overtime) – getting a game-tying coast-to-coast lay-up from Jamison Guerra to force the second extra session. The hosts made just one field goal in the final five minutes, but clamped down defensively to earn the win.
 
MORE ON OVERTIME: Saturday's game was the 74th overtime game in program history, with the victory evening OIT's overtime record at 37-37 – their fourth-straight overtime win. It was the seventh time the Owls have played a two-overtime game and first since a 2016 win at Northwest, while Tech has played four triple-overtime contests.
 
DOMINANT SHOOTING NIGHT: Tech was near perfect inside the 3-point line against Southern, combining to make 30-of-39 2-point field goal attempts and finished the night converting 57-percent of their overall field goal chances. OIT is the lone CCC team making over 50-percent of their shot attempts on the year, leading the league in both scoring average (87.6) and field goal percentage (.520).
 
OSBORN LEADS THE WAY, EARNS LEAGUE HONOR: When the Owls needed a bucket late vs. SOU, Kam Osborn came to the rescue – scoring the final seven points of the second overtime session, part of a season-high 26-point night. For his efforts, Osborn was named CCC Offensive Player of the Week - converting 7-of-13 field goals and 9-of-10 free throws in the victory. It was Osborn's first 20-or-more point game of the season and the seventh of his career, pulling the sixth-year player within 67 points of 1,000 for his OIT career.
 
ALL-AROUND NIGHT FOR GUERRA: Point-guard Jamison Guerra had a monster stat slash line against Southern – scoring 19 points, adding 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals – the latter, netting the senior Cascade Conference Defensive Player of the Week. It was Guerra's seventh career double-double, the eighth time he has recorded 10-or-more assists in a game, while recording 4-or-more steals for the third time as a Hustlin' Owl.
 
POSTS COME THROUGH: Lost in the dramatics of Saturday night was the play of the OIT posts, as Blake Jensen and Jackson Cooper were instrumental in the victory. Jensen scored a season-high 19 points, converting 8-of-9 field goal chances, improving his league-leading field goal percentage to .706. Cooper recorded his fourth-straight double-digit scoring game, scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting – with the sophomore scoring 10-or-more points for the seventh time in nine games.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Travel partner weekend left the Cascade Conference with three unbeaten teams (LC State, College of Idaho, Corban) and two winless teams (Warner Pacific, Southern Oregon) – with all 12 teams back in action this week. Key match-ups include C of I and Eastern Oregon squaring off at LC State and Walla Walla, Multnomah and Warner Pacific heading up to Evergreen State and Northwest, with OIT and SOU facing Bushnell and Corban. Only five games will be played between this weekend and the Jan. 3-4 return to league play – with two of the contests Division I exhibitions.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, the Owls lead the CCC in scoring offense (87.6) and field goal percentage (.520), No. 2 in 3-point percentage (.346), assists per game (15.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), No. 5 in rebound margin (+4.8) and 3-pointers per game (7.9), No. 6 in scoring margin (+6.3), steals per game (6.4) and defensive field goal percentage (.460), No. 9 in free throw percentage (.678), ranking No. 10 in both scoring defense (81.2) and blocks per game (1.7). Individually, Jamison Guerra leads the CCC in assists per game (6.6), 3-point percentage (.500) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4.9), ranking No. 7 in steals per game (1.4) and No. 9 in scoring average (14.3), with Blake Jensen leading the league in field goal percentage (.706). Five others are in the Top-10 – Kam Osborn is No. 3 in free throw percentage (.892), Keegan Shivers is No. 4 in 3-pointers made per game (2.1), Jackson Cooper is No. 4 in field goal percentage (.600), Jay Elmore is No. 8 in 3-point percentage (.440), with Dakota Reber No. 8 in field goal percentage (.564).
 
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 789-180 overall record in the building – including an 102-20 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 3-1 at home, looking for their 54th-straight winning season on their home floor.
 
DEEP DIVE INTO ATTENDANCE: A near capacity crowd for Military Appreciation Night boosted the Hustlin' Owls season attendance average to 1,565 fans per game – tops in the NAIA – well ahead of College of Idaho (1,221), Lewis-Clark State (841), Evangel (814) and Spring Arbor (800). OIT ranks seventh among all Northwest college teams (Boise State – 10,673, Gonzaga – 7,500, Oregon – 6,108, Washington – 5,783, Washington State – 3,462, Oregon State – 3,226, Oregon Tech – 1,565, Idaho – 1,557, Eastern Washington – 1,507, Northwest Nazarene – 1,392) and No. 3 among all Oregon colleges (Oregon – 6,108, Oregon State – 3,226, Oregon Tech – 1,565, Portland – 969, Portland State – 504, Pacific – 197, Corban – 180, Willamette – 157, Western Oregon – 134, Linfield – 114).
 
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 poll, released Dec. 11. 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.  
 
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 (246), No. 3 in 3-point attempts (617), No. 12 in rebounds (676), No. 13 in points scored (1,338) and field goal attempts (1,054), No. 16 in field goals made (458), No. 31 in assists (260), No. 36 in steals (84), No. 44 in games played (110), No. 45 in free throws made (176), No. 59 in blocked shots (18) and No. 60 in free throw attempts (221). Jamison Guerra is No. 7 in assists (539), No. 13 in free throws made (250), No. 16 in free throw attempts (329), No. 21 in steals (112), No. 26 in field goal attempts (873), No. 29 in points scored (1,130), No. 34 in field goals made (396), No. 35 in 3-point attempts (289), No. 44 in games played (110) and No. 46 in 3-pointers made (88); Kam Osborn is No. 32 in 3-pointers made (106), No. 34 in 3-point attempts (292), No. 42 in free throws made (181), No. 45 in points scored (933), No. 49 in field goal attempts (716), No. 51 in free throw attempts (237), No. 53 in assists (177), No. 55 in field goals made (323), No. 63 in games played (86) and No. 69 in steals (50); Erik Fraser is No. 32 in 3-point attempts (247), No. 33 in 3-pointers made (102), No. 55 in games played (95), No. 56 in steals (67), No. 62 in blocked shots (17), ranking No. 75 in field goals made (270) and field goal attempts (583); Blake Jensen is No. 34 in blocked shots (33), No. 43 in free throw attempts (249), No. 53 in rebounds (398), No. 54 in free throws made (166) and No. 61 in games played (87); with Jay Elmore No. 31 in 3-pointers made (114) and No. 38 in 3-point attempts (269). In addition, Fraser sits just outside the Top-75 in points scored (732).
 
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 (1,237) and Duke (1,236) hold the current 3-point streak record, just ahead of CCC rivals Corban (1,221) and College of Idaho (1,172), along with East Tennessee State (1,170).
 
RINGING IN 2025: The Owls will return home to play their first two games of 2025 – hosting Northwest (Jan. 3) and Evergreen State (Jan. 4) – with the Jan. 3 date the annual Rogue Credit Union $1.00 popcorn night.