Second-ranked Oregon Tech led by as many as 18 points in the first half and used a big second-half run to pull away to a 78-60 victory over rival Southern Oregon in Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s basketball action Saturday night at Danny Miles Court.
The loss drops the Raiders’ record to 15-10 overall and 8-6 in conference play, while Oregon Tech improves to 23-3 overall and 12-2 in the CCC. Southern Oregon returns to action Friday, when the Raiders host Northwest at 7:30 p.m. at Bob Riehm Arena.
Eric Thompson led the Raiders with 14 points, while Jordan Highland tallied 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Jeff Bush added eight points, five assists and five rebounds in the loss.
Bobby Hunter finished with a game-high 20 points and Jason Gamblin scored 15 on 7-of-9 shooting for the Owls.
Oregon Tech opened the first half on an 8-0 run as the Raiders missed their first four shots. Later in the first half, an 18-6 OIT run gave the Owls an 18-point advantage at 38-20. Jeff Bush ended the OIT run with a three-pointer with two minutes to play in the half, and the Raiders closed the half on an 8-2 run to trim the Owls’ lead to 40-28 at the break.
The Owls scored the first four points of the second half, but the Raiders pulled back to within 13 on Scott Tiefenthaler‘s jumper with just over 16 minutes to play. Unfortunately for SOU, OIT responded with a 21-5 run to stretch its lead to 29 points at 69-40 with eight minutes remaining. From that point, the Owls coasted to the 18-point victory.
Southern Oregon shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the field, while Oregon Tech shot 54.5 percent (30-of-55).