Press Release
12/8 - OREGON TECH 84, GEORGE FOX 73: Miles Gets 800th Coaching Win as Owls Overcome Bruins
SALEM, Ore. - Coaching legend Danny Miles became the 10th coach in men's college basketball history to win 800 games as his Oregon Institute of Technology Hustlin' Owls came back in the second half to defeat the George Fox University Bruins 84-73 in the opening game of the Hillyer's Mid-City Ford Classic Friday night here at Corban College's C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
Miles ran his career record to 800-351 in 36 seasons as the Owls, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Division II, improved to 12-0. The Bruins fell to 4-4 with their third straight setback, but they threw a scare into the small college power for most of the game.
George Fox never trailed in the first half after jumping out to a 6-0 lead on a layup by Phil Heu-Weller and a shot from the left corner and two free throws by Chris Parker. With Oregon Tech struggling to find the basket early and Parker scoring nine of his 13 first-half points in the first six minutes, the Bruins took a double-digit lead of 15-4 on a layup by Brent Satern and stretched it to 13 at 20-7 on a three-pointer by Heu-Weller with 9:42 left.
The Owls rallied behind All-American point guard Levell Hesia, who scored nine of his 11 first-half points over a seven-minute span, cutting the lead to one at 31-30 on a pair of free throws with 1:10 left. Mark Metzler's back-door layup with 38 seconds left sent the Bruins into the locker room with a 33-30 lead.
The Bruins scored the first two buckets of the second half on layups by Taylor Martin and Parker before the Owls began to find the range. Tech took its first lead on a layup by Josh Garrett 44-43 with 15:03 to go, and the teams played on even terms over the next seven minutes. The Owls finally broke the game open when Hesia hit a pair of threes and Garrett hit another in a one-minute span, raising a one-point lead to 10 at 67-57 with 7:20 remaining. The Bruins got no closer than five, with the largest deficit 14 points on another three by Hesia that made it 82-68 with 50 seconds left.
Parker paced the Bruins with 26 points, Martin had a career-high 14, Heu-Weller added 11, and Brady Strutz scored 10. Martin also had a career game on the boards with nine rebounds, while Satern passed out four assists. The Bruins shot well, making .509 (28-55) from the field, but had 15 turnovers to only eight for Tech.
Hesia led all scorers with 27 points for the Owls, 16 in the second half, while Ryan Fiegi added 19, Garrett 13, and Myles Daley 12. Joshua Wetzler had nine rebounds as Tech held a 35-33 edge on the glass. Hesia also had five assists. After shooting only .290 (9-31) in the first half, the Owls doubled their percentage in the second half to .583 (21-36).
In Friday's second game, host Corban took on Lewis-Clark State College. Saturday's tournament schedule pits Oregon Tech against Lewis-Clark State at 6 p.m., followed by George Fox and Corban 8 p.m.