COMING UP: at Fultz Memorial Classic (Glendale, Ariz.) – vs. No. 9 The Master's, Friday, 3 p.m.; vs. No. 2 Arizona Christian, Saturday, 3 p.m

COMPLETE WEEKLY MEDIA NOTEBOOK

GAME DAY INFORMATION: All OIT men's basketball games will be carried live on 92.5 KLAD-FM in the Klamath Basin and streamed online at MyBasin.com, with Mike Safford on the call – beginning 30-minutes prior to the scheduled tip off. The two games will be streamed online via the GSAC Sports Network, while Live Stats via OIT's SIDEARM Sports Portal.
 
NOTE ARIZONA GAME TIME CHANGES: Note that both games are set for 3 p.m. in the Basin – 4 p.m. in the Phoenix metro – as Arizona moved from Pacific Time to Mountain Time on Sunday when Daylight Savings Time ended nationally.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – THE MASTER'S: The trip to Phoenix begins against the No. 9-ranked team in the NAIA, as The Master's looks for a repeat trip to the NAIA Championships after advancing to the second-round last year. The Mustangs (3-1) opened with a loss to Our Lady of the Lake (who will play in the upcoming Lithia Classic), but followed with wins over Providence, Texas A&M-San Antonio and Mission – averaging 88 points per game. Newcomers Parker Tuttle (21.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and Nate Boakye (15.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg) are the top scorers, with returners Jazen Guillory (13.0 ppg, 2.5 spg) and Quincy Phillips (12.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) providing the leadership. The two teams have met three previous times – in 1982, 1998 and 2008 – with the Owls holding a perfect 3-0 series lead. OIT and TMU will meet again on Nov. 24 at the Hope International tournament.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – ARIZONA CHRISTIAN: Tech closes the trek with a rematch of their NAIA Tournament second-round contest with Arizona Christian, as the Firestorm (3-1) look to build off a trip to the national semifinals. ACU has lopsided wins this year against LC State, Park and Peru State, but dropped a match-up Saturday against No. 3-ranked Georgetown. Returning just one player – Ese Onakpoma (17.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg) – from last season's team, ACU is averaging 79 points a contest and averaging 13 rebounds more than their foes, thanks to guards Shaud Bradley (14.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Zach Reighard (10.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg), along with posts Mikey DeHorney (11.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Jay Lee (9.8 ppg, 11.0 rpg). The Firestorm hold a 2-0 series lead – earning wins last season in Klamath and in Glendale.
 
AGAINST THE GSAC: The Owls will played 5-of-8 non-conference games this season against Golden State Athletic Conference opponents. OIT is a combined 11-2 against current GSAC teams (have played every opponent except Life Pacific), with the Owls previously playing 11 other squads that have left the conference for the NCAA Division I or II, combining to go 15-18 against those teams.
 
BACK TO THE DESERT: OIT makes their fourth trip to Arizona in program history and the third-straight year they head to Phoenix. Tech first made the trip to the desert in 2019, facing Park-Gilbert and Embry-Riddle, in 2023, played both OUAZ and Embry-Riddle, while meeting Indiana Tech and Arizona Christian last March in the NAIA Tournament.
 
THREE STRAIGHT TOP-15 OPPONENTS: The Owls will play three consecutive Top-25 teams to begin the season, part of a 28-game schedule where OIT has 12 games against teams in the NAIA Preseason Poll. Along with the game against No. 2 Arizona Christian and the two vs. No. 9 The Masters, Tech will play No. 14 Southern Oregon three times, No. 1 College of Idaho twice, while meeting both Hope International and LC State (who are receiving votes) twice. Last year, OIT was 1-5 against the Top-25 and 2-6 vs. teams in the poll.
 
TECH EXTENDS HOME OPENER WIN STREAK TO 24: The Hustlin' Owls opened the season with a 75-62 home victory over Southern Oregon, extending a home opener win streak to 24 games. OIT is now 66-10 all-time in their home openers, winning each of the games from 2002-25 – with the last loss coming Nov. 16, 2001, a 95-93 setback to Division II Chico State.
 
OWLS REMAIN UNBEATEN IN OCTOBER: The season opener vs. SOU on Oct. 24 was the earliest beginning of men's basketball action in OIT history – with the Hustlin' Owls improving to 13-0 record in October contests.
 
MORE ON THE WIN: Defense was the key for Tech in the Taco Bell Tip-Off win over Southern, limiting the Raiders to 38.5% shooting on the night, while forcing 20 turnovers. Offensively, the Owls used a key 15-2 second half run to extend a lead to as many as 18 points, finishing the night making 49% of their field goals.
 
REBER OPENS SEASON WITH A BANG: Headlining the OIT offense in the win over SOU (and the exhibition win over the Seattle Mountaineers) was Dakota Reber, combining to average 19 points in the two wins. The senior made 7-of-16 3-pointers in the wins – scoring 12 vs. Southern, while finishing with 26 points against the Mountaineers.
 
COOPER CONTROLS THE PAINT: Forward Jackson Cooper had two quality performances to start the season, including a near triple-double in the exhibition win. The junior fought through foul trouble against Southern, scoring nine points, adding five rebounds, two assists and three steals, while erupting vs. the AAU squad, scoring 24 points, with 10 boards, six assists and four steals.
 
SUCHER RUNS WITH NEW ROLE: Jared Sucher made the first start of his OIT career against SOU and paced the Owls attack with team highs of 14 points and seven rebounds. The redshirt-sophomore followed it up with eight points in the exhibition win.
 
POINT GUARDS SHINE: Tech used two point-guards in the weekend wins, as redshirt freshman Kaden Groenig and redshirt sophomore Sean Chris Tresvant combining to direct the attack. Groenig was instrumental in the win against SOU, scoring a career-high 12 points, while Tresvant had five points and three assists in the victory. One night later, it was Tresvant, who was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, scoring 10 points with six rebounds.
 
MORE FROM WEEK 1: Each of the six new players to the OIT program saw action in one of the two games – with freshman Gylan Payne starting both contests, posting four points and seven rebounds against SOU. Upperclassmen Grant Tull, Garrett Osborne and Logan Thebiay each had solid weekends – Tull scoring seven points vs. SOU, while Osborne tallied six points in both wins, with Thebiay scoring four points in both contests.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: The first full week of the CCC season saw ups and downs from the 11-team circuit, as the Owls are the only unbeaten team in the league that has played. College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon and Bushnell all split games in Montana, while Warner Pacific and Southern Oregon each lost to Montana Tech and Montana Western. LC State rebounded from a loss at Arizona Christian to dispatch Northwest Indian, while both Evergreen and Walla Walla opened the year with losses. This week, Corban joins OIT in Arizona for the Fultz Classic, Northwest heads to C of I to play Rocky Mountain and Park Gilbert, LC State travels to Montana Western and Montana Tech, with Bushnell and Walla Walla playing D-III opponents.
 
799 WINS 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 799-182 overall record in the building – including an 112-22 mark under current head coach Justin Parnell – two wins away from 800 home victories. 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 finished the 2024-25 season 12-3 at home, clinching their 54th-straight winning season on their home floor – the longest streak in NAIA history.
 
TECH PICKED FOURTH IN CCC POLL: The Hustlin' Owls were picked fourth by the 11 Cascade Conference coaches in the 2025-26 preseason poll, released in mid-October.  Defending CCC and NAIA champ, College of Idaho earned eight first-place votes and 117 voter points to top the ranking, followed by Southern Oregon (103), Lewis-Clark State (93) and OIT (88). Eastern Oregon (80) was fifth, with Bushnell (67), Corban (51) and Northwest (47) rounding out the Top-8. The league schedule will feature 20 games, 10 home-and-home matchups – with the Top-8 teams in the final standings advancing to the CCC Championships.
 
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 1,044. 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. Duke (1,264) and UNLV (1,262) hold the current 3-point streak record, just ahead of CCC rivals Corban (1,226) and College of Idaho (1,202), along with East Tennessee State (1,190).
 
NEXT WEEK: Tech returns home to host the annual Lithia Classic – welcoming Southern Oregon, Hope International and Our Lady of the Lake to the Basin.