Owls Drop Overtime Thriller to Beacons
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EUGENE, Ore.- Mitchell Fink's career high 34-points wasn't enough as No.20 Oregon Tech (7-4 CCC, 14-7) fell on the road to Northwest Christian (4-5 CCC, 8-8) 123-121 in overtime Saturday night at the Morse Event Center.
Michael Loomis had a career night, breaking multiple NCU records as he scored career-highs with 36 points and 22 rebounds to become the first Beacon in program history to register a 30/20 performance. The Beacons as a whole, scored their most points in 31 years
The win capped-off a nice weekend for the Beacons as they beat two Top 25 teams after dropping No. 23 Southern Oregon on Friday Night.
OIT was 9-10 from long range in the first half led by Seth Erickson who was 5-for-5 as the Owls took a 60-57 lead into the halftime break. Tech shot 55% in the half on 22 of 40 shooting while NCU also was hot making 17-of-33 field goals (51.5%) including 7-of-14 from behind the 3-point line.
OIT took its biggest lead of the game at 81-71 on a Tyler Hieb layup with 14:13 remaining.
NCU answered going on an 8-0 run on four consecutive Owl turnovers to cut the lead to 81-79 with 10:47 left.
The Owls regained composer and went on an 8-1 run to take a 9-point lead 91-82 on a Fink layup with 7:34 remaining.
The Beacons then went on a 23-10 run to take a four point lead 105-101 on a pair of Loomis free throws with just 1:15 to go.
Loomis' three-pointer with three-seconds remaining in regulation looked to be the game winner, but OIT's Fink was credited with a layup as time expired to send the game to overtime, knotted at 110-110. Fink was also a man on a mission, taking over the game as he scored 15 of 17 Owl points over a four-and-a-half minute stretch between regulation and overtime
Tech took a 4-point lead 118-114 in OT on an Ephraim Church layup with 2:21 to go.
NCU would then go on a 9-3 run as they scored their final 5-points on free-throws to win the game in overtime 123-121.
Oregon Tech was led by Finks 34-points as he flirted with a triple-double, adding 11 assists and eight rebounds. Tyler Hiebscored 26 points and had two steals while Seth Erickson netted 25 points including 21 in the first half.
Oregon Tech returns home next Saturday, January 20 for the 9th Annual PinkOut game at 6:00 pm against Northwest University at Danny Miles Court. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free "PinkOut" T-shirt.
Press release from Oregon Institute of Technology
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