COMING UP: Lithia Classic (Day 1 – Friday) – Hope International vs. Southern Oregon, 12 p.m.; Oregon Tech vs. The Master's, 2 p.m. Lithia Classic (Day 2 – Saturday) – The Master's vs. Southern Oregon, 6 p.m.; Oregon Tech vs. Hope International, 8 p.m.
GAME DAY INFORMATION: All OIT men's basketball games during the 2026-27 season will be carried live on 92.5 KLAD-FM in the Klamath Basin with Mike Safford on the call – beginning 30-minutes prior to the scheduled tip off – with all Lithia Classic games simulcast via the Cascade Sports Network. All games will feature Live Stats through the OIT SIDEARM stats portal. Links to the radio broadcast, video stream and stats are available at OregonTechOwls.com.
HALL OF FAME WEEKEND: Alongside the Lithia Classic and a pair of OIT volleyball games (which have forced Friday's games to be in the early afternoon and Saturday's game to be later in the evening), it is Hall of Fame Weekend, as the sixth induction class into the Howard Morris OIT Athletic Hall of Fame will be celebrated. Included in the class are women's basketball player Nikki (McElligott) O'Connell, volleyball player Megan (Albertson) Jones, volleyball/track athlete Michelle (Klaja) Sentman, men's basketball player Levell Hesia, alongside the 2003-04 men's basketball team. All will be honored at halftime of Saturday's OIT-Hope International game, with the ceremony set for Sunday at 12 p.m. in the College Union.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – THE MASTER'S: The Owls open up tournament play against No. 17-ranked The Master's, as the Mustangs (1-2) are coming off a 22-10 season and a trip to the second round of the NAIA Championships. TMU opened the season with losses to Cal Lutheran and Texas A&M Texarkana but rebounded for a key win against a nationally-ranked Keiser squad. The Mustangs are averaging 86 points per game, converting 12 3-pointers a night and taking 32 free throw attempts a contest. Brayden Miner (17.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg), son of former NBA Slam Dunk champion Harold Miner, leads the club in scoring – converting 10 3-pointers on the year, with the trio of Quincy Phillips (16.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg), Kelson Gebbers (11.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Caden DeVries (10.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) averaging in double-figures. It is TMU's first trip to the Basin, with the squad looking for their first-ever win over OIT, as the Owls hold a 5-0 series record, including two wins last year.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – HOPE INTERNATIONAL: For the second-straight year, Hope International makes the trip to the Basin, as the No. 20 ranked Royals (1-1) are coming off a stellar 26-7 season and trip to the NAIA national quarterfinals. HIU opened the season with a loss to Carroll, but rebounded with a convincing win over Bethesda, as the club averages 91 points a game and is hitting 38% of their 3-point chances. Division II transfers Chinedu Nwankwo (18.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and Jacob Harper (17.5 ppg, 4.5 apg) lead the Royals in scoring, with returners Aman Haynes (15.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Addy G'Bye (14.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg) key on both ends of the floor. HIU swept a pair of games against Tech last season, with the Royals holding a 2-1 series lead.
FOURTH TEAM – SOUTHERN OREGON: The fourth team in the Lithia Classic (and team OIT does not play) is Southern Oregon, as the Raiders (0-1) return to the floor after opening their season with a tough road loss at Simpson. SOU returns a pair of All-CCC picks, including Gio Evanson (14.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Bryce Dyer (8.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg), with the team adding Sacramento State transfer Isiah Bronson (14.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg). Last season, SOU was the lone team to sweep games at the tournament.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Hustlin' Owls have hosted a sponsored tournament every year since 2003, as the event was known as the Midland Empire Classic from 2003-16, with Lithia becoming the title sponsor in 2017. OIT did not host a preseason tournament in 2022 (nor in 2020, due to COVID), while the 2023 tournament was held in conjunction with the Cascade-Crossroads Classic. Southern Oregon is a mainstay in the tourney, participating in every tournament except in 2004 and 2023 – with the Owls recording a 35-8 tournament record and the Raiders posting a 32-6 mark. Jessup has been the most common opponent – making nine tournament appearances, with the now defunct Bethany College making four trips and UC Merced playing in the event three times. Hope International plays in the event for the second-straight year, while The Master's makes their Lithia Classic debut.
STREAKS: The win over OUAZ extended the Owls season opening win streak to five (defeating Jessup in 2022, Simpson in 2023, Providence in 2024, Southern Oregon in 2025 and OUAZ this season). However, Tech had its October win streak snapped at 14 with the loss to Embry-Riddle. Friday afternoon, OIT will put a 24-game win streak on the line in home-opening games. The Hustlln' Owls are 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.
TRIP TO THE DESERT: The Owls opened their season in Prescott, Ariz., at the Embry-Riddle Halloween Classic, finishing 1-1. In the opener against Ottawa (Ariz.), Tech outscored the Spirit by a 49-27 margin in the second half to break open a close game. OIT converted 57% of their second half chances and outrebounded OUAZ by a plus-10 margin. One night later against host Embry-Riddle, the Hustlin' Owls withstood a cold shooting night from 3-point range (3-of-21) to tie the game at 68-68 late in the contest, before a 6-0 run by the Eagles gave the hosts a lead they wouldn't surrender – as a potential game-tying triple at the buzzer for Tech rimmed out.
EFFICIENT OFFENSE: For the third-straight game (including the exhibition against the Seattle Mountaineers), Tech committed seven turnovers or fewer. The Owls combined for just 13 turnovers on the trip (their average per game during the 2025-26 season) – posting seven turnovers against OUAZ and six against ERAU.
PAYNE NAMED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: A big pair of games in Arizona netted forward
Gylan Payne Cascade Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors, helping Tech to the road split. Payne posted 15 defensive rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals in the two games, while averaging 17.5 points per night. The sophomore had 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists vs. OUAZ, adding 17 points, seven boards and three assists against ERAU – making 62% of his field goal attempts in the tournament.
HUGE WEEKEND FOR NATHAN: Point-guard
Owen Nathan opened the season with back-to-back big games, including a career-high 21-point effort against ERAU. The sophomore scored 15 points, adding six rebounds and four assists in the win over OUAZ, before his big night against the hosts. Nathan made 61% of his field goal chances, finished 3-of-7 from 3-point range, and converted 71% of his free throw attempts.
NEWCOMERS DEBUT: Four newcomers to the OIT program received extended minutes on the Arizona trip – as
Caleb Bowden was in the starting lineup and
Trayce Atkins,
Dekker Van De Graaf and
Brody Rygh were key off the bench. Bowden had a consistent weekend, averaging 11 points between the two games, converting 60% of his field goal attempts, with Atkins averaging 14 minutes a night as the back-up point-guard, averaging four points a contest. The freshmen duo were key – as Van De Graaf scored six points against OUAZ, with Rygh converting all four of his free throws and averaging three points per game. Two others –
Mason Pearcy and
Chance White – officially made their Tech debut late in the OUAZ contest.
BITTLE HAS STRONG OPENING WEEKEND: Redshirt freshman
Kyle Bittle played key minutes off the bench for the Hustlin' Owls, averaging six points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The post recorded career-bests of eight points and seven boards against ERAU, while for the weekend, converted all six of his field goal attempts.
POLLS: The Owls were picked to finish fourth in the Cascade Conference preseason poll, released Oct. 21 – as College of Idaho (111), Eastern Oregon (105) and Lewis-Clark State (103) finished with more points than the 88 received by Tech. Corban (75) was fifth – with all five schools receiving at least one first-place vote (and no team receiving more than four). In the NAIA Top-25 poll, two CCC teams were in the Top-25 – No. 15 EOU and No. 16 C of I, with LC receiving votes. In addition, two preseason opponents were ranked – No. 17 The Master's and No. 20 Hope International.
AROUND THE CCC: Last week, CCC teams were on the road, with Warner Pacific sweeping games in California (defeating Lincoln and Simpson), with two teams playing in Montana – College of Idaho splitting a pair (losing to Montana Tech, defeating Montana Western) and Bushnell going 2-1 (defeating MSU-Northern and Providence, losing at Carroll). This week, Eastern Oregon travels to North Dakota for two games (at Dickinson State and Bismarck State), C of I and Northwest meet Carroll and Providence in Caldwell, LC State heads to Montana Tech and Montana Western, Warner Pacific hosts Benedictine Mesa, both Bushnell and Corban welcome Simpson, with Evergreen and Walla Walla playing NCAA exhibitions.
RECORD HOME STREAK EXTENDED: 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 an 809-186 overall record in the building – including a 122-26 mark under current head coach
Justin Parnell. OIT has recorded a winning record in 58-of-60 seasons (going 5-7 in 1965-66 and 1-8 in 1970-71), including four undefeated seasons (1986-87, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11). The Owls finished 11-4 at home last season, extending the longest home season win streak in NAIA history to 55-straight seasons with an above .500 record at home.
RECORD BOOK: Two players open the 2026-27 season in the OIT Top-75 career record book – as
Gylan Payne is No. 36 in blocked shots (31) and
Jared Sucher ranks No. 67 in 3-pointers made (53) and No. 70 in 3-point attempts (141).
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 1,073. 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 six occasions. Duke (1,303) and UNLV (1,296) hold the current 3-point streak record, just ahead of CCC rivals Corban (1,258) and College of Idaho (1,235), along with East Tennessee State (1,224).
UP NEXT: The Hustlin' Owls will hit the road next Wednesday (Nov. 11) for a 7:30 p.m. match-up at Simpson, before returning to the court on Nov. 20 for a non-conference date at rival Southern Oregon.
