Box Score CALDWELL, Idaho –
Jon Viles scored a game-high 18 points off the bench, including two clinching free throws with 16 seconds left, as the Multnomah University Lions sank the Montana Tech Orediggers 69-66 Friday evening in the opening round of the College of Idaho Domino's Classic here at the J.A. Albertson Center.
Tech jumped out to a 10-0 lead, capped by back-to-back layups by Dylan Pannabecker, before Trent Baker's layup at 15:42 got the Lions on the board. A three-pointer by Viles and a basket by Brett Blackstock pulled Multnomah within three, but the 'Diggers remained in front and stretched their lead to 11 at 28-17 on another Pannabecker layin with 7:38 left in the half. The Lions hung tough, however, and Viles' bucket with four seconds left cut Tech's lead to 35-32 at the break.
The teams mostly swapped baskets through the first 10 minutes of the second half before Multnomah got consecutive scores by Blackstock, Viles and Max Upchurch to secure its first tie of 52-52 with 9:37 left. A Viles layup gave the Lions their first lead of 54-52 with 8:22 remaining. There were three more ties, the last at 60-60, and then Trey Fountain put Multnomah ahead for good with a three at the 3:32 mark.
Pannabecker connected twice in the final three minutes, but each time the Lions countered, once with a Fountain layup and again with two free throws by Tyler Walker. Kale Guldseth's fast-break layup with 20 seconds left cut the Multnomah margin to 67-66 and Fountain was quickly fouled in an effort to get the ball back. Fountain missed both charity tosses, but Viles grabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled with 16 seconds left, and canned both freebies for the final margin.
--- By the Numbers: In addition to Viles' 18, Fountain scored 14, and Blackstock had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Ben Grandle also nabbed 11 boards as the Lions held a 44-43 edge on the glass. Fountain handed out three assists.
Taylor England had a double-double for Tech with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Pannabecker added 12 points and John Chapman 10. Iman Chatman had 10 rebounds as well, and Chris O'Neill passed out three assists.
Multnomah notched its first win of the season and is now 1-2, while Montana Tech fell to 4-2.
--- Next: Multnomah meets Lewis-Clark State at 5:00 p.m. (MST) and Montana Tech takes on the host College of Idaho at 7:00 p.m. in the final two games of the Domino's Classic Saturday.
