KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University men's basketball used a strong second half to come close but could not overcome an early first half deficit as Oregon Tech defeated EOU, 82-74, on Saturday Night on Danny Miles Court.
 
Bryan McGriff led the Mountaineers (9-4, 2-2 CCC) with 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting. De'Sean Mattox added 15 for the EOU, who suffered their second straight defeat. Deonta Edwards and Michael Crane rounded out the double-figure scorers for EOU with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Lavar Moore scored 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting to lead the Owls (9-5, 2-2 CCC). Austen Fling added 16 points, while Kyle Waits scored 12 on the evening.
 
Oregon Tech's offense came out on fire to start the game against EOU. After a Flint three-pointer, EOU found themselves down seven points, 10-3. The Owls continued to slowly add to their lead and extended their lead to 12 points, 17-5, after a layup by Moore.
 
The Mountaineers found themselves down 19 points, 29-10, with 7:51 left in the half after a pair of free throws by Josh Johnson. EOU did not go away easily and slowly started to chip away at the Owls' lead. EOU went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead down to single-digits, 29-20. During the stretch, Mattox scored five points for Eastern Oregon.
 
The Mountaineers continued to trail by at least 13 points for the remainder of the half. McGriff cut the lead down to ten points, 36-26, to go into halftime.
 
Over the first four minutes of the second half, each time the Mountaineers looked to be making a move, the Owls had an answer. With 16 minutes left in the game, EOU trailed by 10 points, 46-36.
 
Eastern Oregon trimmed the lead down to eight, 46-38, after a Strock jumper but Oregon Tech responded by growing the lead back to double-figures. EOU continued to chip away at the Owls' lead and with 9:21 left, EOU trailed again by eight points, 59-51, after a Christian Parrott jumper.
 
With the Mountaineers down by ten, 61-51, McGriff scored five straight points to cut Oregon Tech's lead down to five points, 61-56. After Eastern Oregon trimmed the lead down to five points, Oregon Tech wasted little time to increase their lead back to double-figures, 74-64, after a Brandon Bautista jumper.
 
The Mountaineers continued to battle and after a jumper by McGriff, EOU found themselves by six points, 74-68, however, EOU could not get any closer than six points for the remainder of the game and EOU was defeated, 82-74.
 
The Mountaineers return to action on Friday, Jan. 2 when they host Concordia (Ore.) at 7:30 p.m. at Quinn Coliseum.