Box Score
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The No. 3 Oregon Tech men's basketball team left No. 23 Eastern Oregon University with an 81-71 win Saturday.
The Owls (14-1, 4-0 Cascade Collegiate Conference) won their 11th straight game. Bobby Hunter led OIT with a game-high 30 points. The freshman made 11-of-18 from the field, including 4-for-6 from behind the arc. Kyle Gomez added 17 points and Bryant Sentman scored 10. Gomez grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Oregon Tech led for almost the entirety of the game. EOU led 2-0 to begin the game and had a one-point lead for 16 seconds early in the second half. OIT won for only the second time in the past time six times in Quinn Coliseum against Eastern, but it was the second straight win. The Owls have won four-consecutive games over EOU.
The first half featured four ties and one lead change. OIT led by as many as seven points twice, the latest was with 6:01 remaining in the half when Hunter made a jump-shot to give Tech a 36-29 lead. Eastern Oregon went on an 8-1 run to tie the game, but it were the Owls that had a 44-41 lead at halftime.
The Mountaineers (9-4, 2-2) had a 50-48 lead four minutes into the second half after a three-pointer. But, the lead lasted only 16 seconds as Tech responded with a 9-0 run and pulled away from there.
Jamar Johnson led Eastern with 16 points. The senior made 3-of-8 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Trent Roos added 13 points.
Anthony Brown and
Ervin Felder each recorded double-doubles. Brown had 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Felder scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
The Mountaineers shot 46 percent from the field in the first half, but were held to 28 percent in the second. EOU made six of its 24 three-pointers and 21-of-25 from the free-throw line.
Eastern Oregon outrebounded Tech, 42-34. The Mountaineers pulled down 19 offensive rebounds. EOU committed 17 turnovers, while the Owls had six, a season-low for an Eastern opponent. Oregon Tech was 46 percent from the field, 8-of-18 from three-point range, and 15-for-22 from the free-throw line.
It was only the third loss in Quinn Coliseum for Eastern Oregon under Isaac Williams in the regular season. Two of the losses have come to OIT. EOU is now 26-3 under Williams at home in the regular season. Eastern is 65-5 in the regular season since 2006-07 at home.
The Mountaineers travel to The Evergreen State College for their next game on Dec. 29. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tech host No. 17 Warner Pacific College the same night in Klamath Falls.
