03.12.2010 - Hustlin' Owls Upset in "Sweet 16"

Oregon Tech's Joseph Foster

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. — Oregon Tech picked a bad time to go cold. In perhaps its poorest shooting performance in several years, OIT made just 30 percent of its shots in a 75-67 loss to the University of Saint Francis of Indiana in the second round of the NAIA Division II men’s national basketball tournament.

 

“There are no excuses,” OIT junior Joseph Foster said. “You are supposed to put the ball in the basket, and we didn’t do it. The ball was in and out. We had some tough breaks.”

 

OIT had just one run where shots fell, and that came during a rally in which the Hustlin’ Owls rallied from a 46-31 deficit to take a

54-53 lead on a Mike Nieraeth field goal.

 

The Owls would expand their lead to 58-53 with six minutes left to play, but would make just one more field goal in the game, a three- point shot by Foster. All of OIT’s other points were free throws.

 

One of the better free-throw shooting teams in the country, OIT did nail 25-of-29 charity tosses in the game, an effort that kept almost 100 boisterous Owl fans on their feet, cheering and hoping for another miracle comeback.

 

“They made the shots on the perimeter, and knocked down some big shots,” Foster said of the No. 15 seed. The Cougars were 9-for-20 from three-point range in a game in which they shot 45 percent from the floor.

 

“We have to credit their defense, but we had the looks we wanted and the ball didn’t drop,” Foster said.

 

Second-seeded OIT did a brilliant job in slowing USF’s DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis, who had scored 43 points in his team’s first-round win over Black Hills State. It was the fifth highest single-game individual scoring performance in the 19-year history of the tournament.

 

Qadr Owens, Ethan Hussey and Kevin Bloom picked up the slack, and made seven of the Cougars’ nine three-point field goals.

 

“We feel we’re a good three-point shooting team, and were surprised at how many open looks we had,” Owens said after USF upped its season record to 24-9. “The shots fell today.

 

“We know that when teams come in against Sawyer-Davis, we have to step up, and I was able to do that (Friday),” he said.

 

Owens led the Cougars with 22 points, while Sawyer-Davis finished with 14, Bloom 10 and Hussey nine in the game in which USF was outrebounded, committed more fouls and turned the ball over more than did OIT.

 

OIT just consistently missed shots it has made all season.

 

Justin Parnell finished with 25 points for the Hustlin’ Owls, who saw their season come to an end with a 30-4 record after having reached their record 12th Sweet Sixteen in the national tournament.

 

Foster added 19 points.

 

Parnell pulled down nine rebounds, and Myles Daley eight, while Nieraeth had four steals. All were game highs.

 

“That’s a good team. There’s no doubt about that,” Owens said. 

“They’ll be back.”

 

“It’s sad to end like this, but we have to keep our heads high,” 

Foster said of an OIT team than won 30 games for the seventh time in school history.

 

03.10.2010 - Hustlin' Owls Advance to "Sweet 16" with Win Over Judson 63-57

Justin Parnell Scores as Oregon Tech Downed Judson 63-57

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- The Oregon Institute of Technology men’s basketball team knocked off Judson University in the opening round of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship Wednesday, 63-57. The 2010 event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

 

The second seeded Hustlin’ Owls had to work for its ninth consecutive first round victory over the Eagles. The first 10 minutes featured three lead changes and two ties, including a pair of Josh Weber free throws for JU that tied the game at 14 with 11:11 remaining in the first half.

 

OIT (30-4) then used a 21-0 run over the next eight minutes to stretch its lead to 35-14 with 3:12 remaining in the first half. Judson would make a run of their own and hold the Owls scoreless for the rest of the half, 12-0.

 

A Justin Parnell jumper gave Tech its largest lead of the second half, 43-31, with 13:53 remaining in regulation. The Eagles then made another run, this time a Jim Kuban basket capped off a 17-4 run that gave Judson the lead back with 8:15 remaining in the game.  

Oregon Tech's Scotty Riddle had 10 Points and 9 Rebounds

 

 

The lead changed only twice over the next five minutes with the lead never larger than three points.

 

Joseph Foster led four OIT double-digit scorers with 17 points. Justin Parnell added 12, Myles Daley had 11, and Scott Riddle chipped in 10.

Daley added a game-high 12 rebounds. Judson held Tech to 1 for 13 shooting from behind the perimeter. The Hustlin’ Owls entered the game with a 38 percent three-point field goal percentage.

 

The Eagles (17-13) were 4 for 19 from behind the arc, and shot 31 percent from the field in the game. Oregon Tech finished shooting 33 percent from the field. Judson had 14 turnovers, compared to the Hustlin’ Owls’ nine.

 

Kuban led JU with 14 points on 6 for 19 shooting from the field. Landon Skinner finished with 11, and Josh Edwards had 10. LeStan Hoskins had a team-high 10 rebounds. The Eagles finished the game with no assists.

Oregon Tech's Joesph Foster Brings the Ball up Against Judson University

 

The scoring margin was the closest for a first round game featuring the two seed since second-seeded Bethel College defeated Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho in 1999. 96-90. Bethel went on to be the national runner-up that season. Only one two-seed has ever lost in the opening round when Grace fell to Northwest Nazarene in 1993, 86-75.

 

Oregon Tech advances to the second round and will play 15th seeded St.

Francis Friday at 4 p.m.(CST) 2pm (PST) with the pre-game show scheduled for 1:30 pm on 92.5 KLAD-FM with Bobby Thompson and Mike Garrard. The 32-team, single elimination tournament concludes March 17, 2009.

 

 

 

03.08.2010 - Oregon Tech to Play Judson in the First Round Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 3:45 pm

 VIEW THE 2010 NAIA D II NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

 

Kansas City, MO (March 2, 2010) ---

The official bracket for the 2010 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship was released Wednesday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. CST. The NAIA tournaments two-seed, Oregon Tech, will play in first round action on Wednesday, March 10, at 5:45 p.m. CST (3:45 p.m. PST) versus Judson University, Ill. The tournament will be held in Point Lookout, Missouri at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks March 10-16.

 

Judson University, competing in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, enters the NAIA National Tournament with a 17-12 overall mark. Judson received the automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Tournament with an upset win over #9 Cardinal Stritch in the CCAC Tournament Championship game. Judson currently has a seven-game winning streak. This is the second time in three years that Judson has made the NAIA Division II National Tournament as they made their first appearance in 2008.

 

 

Oregon Tech (29-4) is ranked No.2 in the final 2010 NAIA Division II poll heading into the national tournament and was ranked in the top-15 throughout the entire season.  Judson was not ranked in the top-25 NAIA poll this season, but did receive votes in the NAIA preseason poll.

 

The Hustlin’ Owls have won two NAIA Division II National Championships, in 2004 and in 2008. The Owls, making their 12th appearance, have the most wins at the NAIA Division II Tournament (26-9) and have never lost in first-round action.

 

The Cascade Conference will send four teams to this year’s national tournament. No. 14 seed Eastern Oregon (22-8) plays Davenport, Mich. on Thursday 4 pm CST, unseeded Evergreen State (19-10) will play eight-seeded Embry-Riddle, Fla., Wednesday, March 10, 12:00 pm CST and unseeded Warner Pacific (22-9) plays thirteen-seed Cedarville, OH. Thursday, March 11th at 1:45 pm CST.