via Oregon Tech Athletic Communications
REDDING, Calif. – Erik Fraser keyed an Oregon Tech 15-1 run in the second half with 7-straight points, lifting the Hustlin’ Owls to an 83-70 victory over Simpson University inside the Grant Center.
Five OIT (4-2) players scored in double-figures, as the Owls forced 17 turnovers in the road win, improving to 46-0 all-time against the Redhawks.
“That is a really good win for our team,” said OIT head coach Justin Parnell. “The final 10 minutes, we executed on both ends of the floor – got some huge stops and were able to score in transition. This game prepared us for the upcoming conference season.”
Tech trailed 35-34 at the break and watched as the Redhawks (4-5) scored the first six points of the second half – with the hosts controlling the opening 10 minutes of the period. Trailing 57-54, the Owls finally broke through as inside buckets from Jamison Guerra and Kam Osborn gave the visitors their first lead since the early stages of the first half.
Osborn would follow with a driving lay-up and Jackson Cooper scored on a backdoor dunk off a Keegan Shivers pass. Fraser took over from there – driving baseline for two and following a Tech steal, scored in transition off a great Guerra bounce pass to push the lead to 66-58. The senior capped his scoring run with a 3-point play – giving the Owls their first double-digit lead.
While the OIT offense hit their stride, the defense clamped down – holding SU without a made field goal for a seven-minute stretch of the period. The lead grew to as many as 15 points late in the contest.
Osborn had 15 points to lead Tech, Shivers scored 14, with both Guerra and Fraser scoring 13. Cooper had 12 points off the bench, joining Fraser and Shivers with seven rebounds. The Owls finished the night making 51-percent of their field goals.
The Redhawks were paced by Kellen Torrey, who scored 15 of his 16 points in the first half. SU made six of their first nine 3-point attempts – but cooled off in the second half.
OIT has the weekend off, prepping for the opening Cascade Conference road trip with games Dec. 6 at Eastern Oregon and Dec. 7 at College of Idaho.