KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University men's basketball team started hot but struggled down the stretch as they fell by a final of 99-89 to the OIT Owls in CCC action on Saturday night.
 
NCU (11-12, 7-9 CCC) finished with a +9 turnover advantage, but were unable to overcome the 43-19 rebound advantage and .615 shooting efforts from the Owls on their home court.
 
The Beacons started off hot, using a 13-point run to build up an early 15-7 lead in the first five minutes of play. The Owl's battled-back with a 10-2 stretch of their own midway through the half, bringing the game even at 24-24 at the 8:24 mark. The two sides played out the remainder of the half at a deadlock with the score never swaying by more than four points in either direction. Tech went into the intermission up one, 43-42.
 
Spencer Mattox hit a fast-break layup to start the second half and the Beacons back out in front, but Tech quickly countered and built their lead back up to five at 51-46. Northwest Christian worked their way back and brought the game to it's eighth tie at 62-62 on an Austin Tyner three-pointer. The score knotted-up three more times over the next four minutes, with OIT breaking the final 73-73 tie at 11:28. The Owl's started to pull away midway through the final period when Mitchell Fink sank a lay-up to spark a streak of 15 unanswered, giving Tech a 92-76 lead with just under five remaining. NCU cut the lead to eight late in the contest, but the push was too late to overtake the Owls and their .750 second-half shooting efficiency.
 
Michael Loomis led the Beacons in scoring, going 7-15 from the field and 9-9 from the line en route to 26 points. The Beacon bench contributed 37 points on the night with Austin Tyner hitting five three-pointers on his way to 19 points and Tyrus Hosley chipping-in another ten. Spencer Mattox also finished in double-figures with 13.
 
Five players topped double-digits for OIT (19-8, 12-5) with Tyler Hieb scoring a team-high 20 points. Andrew Weber notched the games only double-double with 18 points and 13 boards, going a perfect 7-7 from the field. Fink scored 15 points and distributed the ball to the tune of eight assists, while Jalen Carvalho and Harrison Steiger poured in 11 each.
 
NCU is back in action tomorrow, traveling to Ashland for a 6:00 p.m. clash with the Southern Oregon Raiders.