Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – A 11-0 start to the game and a balanced attack that placed six players in double digits in points proved to be an unbeatable combination for the Oregon Institute of Technology Owls in a wire-to-wire 93-67 Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball win over the host Multnomah University Lions Friday night here at Lytle Gym.
Three-pointers by Jalen Carvalho and Mitchell Fink, a fast-break layup by Harrison Steiger, and a three by Zach Bernards gave OIT an 11-0 bulge two-and-a-half minutes into the contest. Multnomah, meanwhile, missed its first four shots before a steal and layin by
Darius Redrick put the Lions on the board. Tyler Hieb answered with a three to make it 14-2 OIT, but the Lions began to show some life as they went on a 16-7 tear to cut the deficit to three at 21-18 at the 12:05 mark. Redrick had a layup and a three,
Brett Blackstock two threes and a jumper, and
Ry Paulsen a trey in the outburst that got the Lions within striking distance.
OIT slowed the Multnomah comeback with a three by Seth Erickson and a jumper by Fink, although the Lions again closed within four on a triple by Seth Sedlock that made it 27-23 with 7:24 to go in the half. However, the Owls went on a 13-3 run to extend their lead to 14 at 40-26 a minute from the end. Blackstock's three with 46 seconds left made it 40-29 at the break and gave the Lions some hope.
The Owls squelched any ideas of a Multnomah comeback, though, by opening the second half with an 18-5 outburst over a five-and-a-half minute span that spread the gap to 24 points at 58-34. The margin eventually reached 33 on a pair of Bernards free throws that made it 84-51 with 4:27 left.
--- By the Numbers: Max Upchurch led the Lions with 14 points off the bench, hitting all four of his field goal tries, three of them from behind the arc, as the MU reserves out-scored the starters 36-31. Blackstock was the only other Lion in double figures with 11. Multnomah not only struggled from the field, making only 23-of-64 (.359), but even had trouble from the line, hitting a mere 7-of-15 (.467) from the stripe, well below their .745 team mark entering the game.
Ben Grandle tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds,
Tyler Walker passed out seven assists and had three steals, and
Jon Viles blocked a pair of shots.
Carvalho led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Hieb with 14, Fink 12, Steiger and Erickson 11 each, and Bernards 10. The Owls finished with a .478 shooting percentage (33-69) and owned the glass 58-28, with Carsvalho and Andrew Weber corralling eight boards apiece. Fink made it a double-double night with 10 assists.
Multnomah fell to 6-17 on the season and 3-11 in the conference, while Oregon Tech improved to 17-8 overall and 10-5 in the league.
--- Quoting MU coach Curt Bickley: "Just didn't have it tonight. A slow start and missed open shots added up to being behind all night. OIT is a great, well-coached team which is where we want to get to."
--- Next: Multnomah visits Corban University Friday for a 7:30 p.m. CCC game … Oregon Tech goes to Southern Oregon University Wednesday for a CCC game at 7:30 p.m. … Both will be preceded by women's CCC games at 5:30 p.m.
