COMING UP: vs. Northwest, Friday, 7:30 p.m.; at Evergreen State, 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 and a video simulcast on the Owls Sports Network. Live Stats available through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Portal. Friday marks the annual Rogue Credit Union Night, with $1.00 popcorn available throughout the evening.
 
MULTIMEDIA: Photos from the 2024-25 season, including the Dec. 14 win over Southern, are posted online via the OIT Men's Basketball Flickr Page, while highlight clips from the road swing to Bushnell and Corban are posted online via the OIT Men's Basketball YouTube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – NORTHWEST: The 2025 portion of the schedule opens at home, as Northwest University looks to try and snap a 7-game losing streak to OIT. The Eagles (2-9, 1-4 CCC) played four of their first five CCC games at home – averaging 68 points per game, converting 41% of their field goals (58% of free throws), while committing 15 turnovers a night. NU picked up a non-conference win at Carroll, thanks to the play of guard Trent Williams (8.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg), along with forwards Nash Wobrock (13.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Tay Aubrey-Thomas (11.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and Manuel Zapater (7.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg). The two teams have met 58 times, with Tech holding a 46-11 series edge, including a 27-1 mark in regular-season home games.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – EVERGREEN STATE: Saturday afternoon, the Owls put a 16-game win streak against Evergreen State on the line, as the Geoducks (1-7, 1-4) search for their first road win of the season. TESC opened the league schedule with 5-straight home games – picking up a win over Northwest – averaging 64 points and 16 turnovers per game. The Geoducks are led by guards Jourdan Joseph (13.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and Bradley Graham (11.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg), with Garret Long (7.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and 6-foot-10 Solomon Campbell (7.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg) the top forwards. OIT is a perfect 26-0 all-time at home vs. TESC in the regular-season, with the Owls holding a 44-9 all-time series lead on the Washington school.
 
IMPORTANT SWEEP OF VALLEY TRIP: OIT closed out 2024 with a 26-7 record, thanks to a weekend road sweep of Bushnell and Corban – the fourth sweep of the schools on the road since 2009 and the first back-to-back road sweeps of the squads. The Owls used a 16-2 second half run to break the Bushnell game open, while Tech rallied from a 10-point second half deficit at Corban, as a 13-3 run late in the contest gave OIT the lead for good.
 
SECOND HALF DEFENSE: Defense has been key for the Owls in conference play – as the squad has held their last four CCC opponents to a 44% field goal clip – including a 27% (35-of-131) mark from 3-point range. In the Valley, OIT clamped down on the two opponents in the second half – holding Bushnell to 28% shooting to outscore the Beacons 47-36, while limiting Corban to 36% shooting after the break to outscore the Warriors, 41-28.
 
BEST SHOOTING NIGHT: Tech had their best shooting night of the season at Bushnell, ending the night making 61.4% (35-of-57) of field goal attempts – including a 69% of their second half chances. Between the Southern Oregon and Bushnell games, OIT converted 60-of-80 2-point attempts. The Owls continue to lead the CCC in field goal percentage, converting 51.8% of their season attempts.
 
LIMITING MISTAKES: The Owls committed just 15 turnovers on the road swing – nine turnovers at Bushnell and a season-low six turnovers at Corban. Tech ranks second in the CCC in turnovers per game, committing just 10.1 per night.
 
COOPER DOMINATES THE VALLEY: A big sophomore season continued for Jackson Cooper, running a string of double-digit scoring games to six with two huge efforts on the road. The forward made 5-of-6 field goals, scoring 11 points at Bushnell, followed by a monster double-double (16 points, 13 rebounds) at Corban, making all six free throws and knocking down three key jumpers late in the game.
 
OSBORN CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Kam Osborn put himself in striking distance of the 1,000-point mark for his OIT career, scoring 15 points at Bushnell and recording 11 points at Corban. The sixth-year player, who ranks third in the CCC in free throw percentage (90%), sits 41 points away from becoming 39th player in program history to reach the milestone and third current Hustlin' Owl to join the club (Keegan Shivers, Jamison Guerra).
 
JENSEN HAS BIG TRIP: Post Blake Jensen was key to Tech's success on both ends of the floor – scoring 15 points at Bushnell, adding 10 at Corban – while recording eight rebounds in both games. The senior made 6-of-7 field goals in the Friday win, while converting 6-of-8 free throws in the Saturday night victory. Jensen, who leads the CCC in field goal percentage (68.8%), became the 53rd OIT player to surpass 400 rebounds for a career.
 
GUERRA STAYS STEADY: Point-guard Jamison Guerra continued a banner season, knocking down 9-of-15 field goal chances in the Valley. The fifth-year senior had 11 points and nine assists at Bushnell, scoring 12 more at Corban – becoming the only OIT player to score 9-or-more points in all 11 games this season. Guerra continues to lead the league in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio, while ranking No. 3 in CCC-only games in field goal percentage.
 
SUPERLATIVES: Dakota Reber came up huge at Bushnell, scoring all 11 of his points in a first half flurry. Erik Fraser recorded a career-high 11 rebounds in the win at Corban, while Keegan Shivers combined for 23 points and 11 rebounds in the two wins – moving 23 3-pointers made away from OIT's all-time mark.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Four road teams closed 2024 with a road sweep – College of Idaho (at LC State and Walla Walla), Warner Pacific/Multnomah (at Evergreen and Northwest) and OIT (at Bushnell and Corban) – with C of I (5-0) holding a one-game lead on four one-loss teams (LC State, OIT, Multnomah, Corban). This week, Corban and Bushnell head to C of I and Eastern Oregon, LC State and Walla Walla are at Multnomah and Warner Pacific, with Evergreen and Northwest at OIT and Southern (both SOU and Multnomah will play their first home CCC games of the season).
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a team, OIT leads the CCC in field goal percentage (.518), ranking No. 2 in scoring average (85.7), assists per game (14.8), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5) and turnovers per game (10.1), No. 5 in scoring margin (+7.0), rebound margin (+4.9) and 3-point percentage (.336), ranking No. 8 in free throw percentage (.684) and No. 9 in steals per game (6.0), blocks per game (1.9) and scoring defense (78.4). Individually, Jamison Guerra leads the league in assists per game (6.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4.4), is No. 4 in 3-point percentage (.471) and No. 10 in scoring average (13.8) and field goal percentage (.545), while Blake Jensen leads the league in field goal percentage (.688). Kam Osborn is No. 3 in free throw percentage (.900), Keegan Shivers is No. 5 in 3-pointers made per game (2.0), Jackson Cooper is No. 5 in field goal percentage (.611) and Dakota Reber is No. 9 in field goal percentage (.547).
 
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: The Hustlin' Owls head into 2025 with a season attendance average to 1,565 fans per game – tops in the NAIA – well ahead of College of Idaho (1,221), Lewis-Clark State (801), Spring Arbor (800) and Evangel (877). OIT ranks seventh among all Northwest college teams (Boise State – 10,522, Gonzaga – 7,000, Washington – 6,226, Oregon – 6,108, Washington State – 3,462, Oregon State – 3,124, Oregon Tech – 1,565, Idaho – 1,557, Eastern Washington – 1,450, Northwest Nazarene – 1,392) and No. 3 among all Oregon colleges (Oregon – 6,108, Oregon State – 3,124, Oregon Tech – 1,565, Portland – 1,086, Portland State – 504, Pacific – 197, Corban – 185, Willamette – 157, Western Oregon – 146, 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 (249) and 3-point attempts (624), No. 10 in field goal attempts (1,070), No. 11 in points scored (1,361), No. 12 in rebounds (687), No. 15 in field goals made (466), No. 32 in assists (263), No. 36 in steals (84), No. 42 in games played (112), No. 44 in free throws made (180), ranking No. 58 in blocked shots (19) and free throw attempts (226). Jamison Guerra is No. 7 in assists (551), No. 13 in free throws made (254), No. 16 in free throw attempts (335), No. 21 in steals (114), No. 26 in field goal attempts (888) and points scored (1,153), No. 31 in field goals made (405), No. 35 in 3-point attempts (293), No. 42 in games played (112) and No. 46 in 3-pointers made (89); Kam Osborn is No. 32 in 3-pointers made (107), No. 33 in 3-point attempts (297), No. 41 in free throws made (184) and points scored (959), No. 44 in field goal attempts (740), No. 48 in free throw attempts (241), No. 52 in field goals made (334), No. 53 in assists (177), No. 62 in games played (88) and No. 69 in steals (50); Erik Fraser is No. 32 in 3-point attempts (302), No. 33 in 3-pointers made (103), No. 54 in steals (68), No. 55 in games played (97), No. 58 in blocked shots (19), ranking No. 72 in field goal attempts (597) and No. 74 in field goals made (275); Blake Jensen is No. 31 in blocked shots (35), No. 36 in free throw attempts (261), No. 46 in free throw attempts (175), No. 49 in rebounds (414) and No. 57 in games played (89); with Jay Elmore No. 31 in 3-pointers made (114) and No. 38 in 3-point attempts (272). In addition, Fraser sits just outside the Top-75 in points scored (745).
 
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 1,026. 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 (1,239) and Duke (1,238) hold the current 3-point streak record, just ahead of CCC rivals Corban (1,223) and College of Idaho (1,174), along with East Tennessee State (1,172).
 
NEXT WEEK: The Owls make a trip to the Rose City for games at Warner Pacific (Jan. 10) and Multnomah (Jan. 11).