KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – A 17-0 late first half run erased an Oregon Tech 13-point lead, as the College of Idaho rode 11 made 3-pointers and a sizable rebound margin to a 77-65 victory over second-ranked Oregon Tech at Danny Miles Court.
In a rematch of last season's NAIA Division II national semifinal, the fifth-ranked Coyotes (10-3, 3-0 CCC) flipped the script over the final five minutes of the opening stanza to win for the third time in five outings at OIT.
The win for C of I marked the third time a Coyote team had defeated a Top-2 opponent – joining a 2001 win over No. 2 Siena Heights at the NAIA Championships and a 2014 win over NAIA Division I No. 1-ranked Vanguard.
The Hustlin' Owls (11-2, 1-2) started strong, as All-American Mitchell Fink scored seven of his game-high 19 points in a 23-10 run to open the game. Tech made four of their first six 3-point attempts – but ended the night missing 14 of their final 19 attempts.
C of I trailed 33-21 with just under six minutes left in the period – but the Yotes clamped down on the defensive end – forcing four OIT turnovers and seven-straight missed shots in the game-changing rally. Triples from
Jalen Galloway,
Talon Pinckney and
Nate Bruneel fueled the surge, as the visitors led 38-35 at the break.
The lead grew to 50-40 after a
Ricardo Time 3-ball early in the second half, but the Owls countered with back-to-back Lachlan McKim baskets in an 8-0 run to cut the gap to 50-48. However, C of I held OIT without a made field goal for nearly five minutes – as a Galloway runner, an
Ivory Miles-Williams lay-up, a Time 3-pointer and a Charles Elzie jumper pushed the lead to 59-48 – with the Coyotes holding Tech at bay the rest of the way.
Bruneel made 5-of-6 3-pointers, finishing with 17 points and six rebounds, with
Connor Desaulniers making 7-of-11 field goal attempts, equaling the stat-line with 17 points and six boards. Time scored 11, Elzie had eight points and Pinckney, making his first appearance since mid-November, had seven points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Yotes made 11-of-22 3-point baskets and held a 44-32 rebound edge against an OIT team that led the Cascade Conference and ranked second in the NAIA with a plus-19 rebound margin.
Matt Van Tassell scored 10 in the loss for the Owls, who made just 41 percent of their field goals and allowed an opponent to score more than 75 points in a game for just the third time in 2019-20.
C of I puts their season-high four-game win streak on the line tomorrow night, traveling to No. 18-ranked Southern Oregon for a 7:30 p.m. (PT) tip.
