LEWISTON, Idaho – For the second-straight postseason game, Oregon Tech turned to point-guard Jamison Guerra in crunch time and for the second-straight game, the junior came through – banking home a 5-footer with less than a second remaining, lifting the Hustlin’ Owls to a 82-80 victory at Lewis-Clark State in the semifinals of the Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank.
OIT (25-5) advances to the CCC title game on Tuesday night, meeting top-seed and defending NAIA National Champion, College of Idaho, at 6:30 p.m. (PST)
The Hustlin’ Owls led 62-42 with 16 minutes remaining, but the host Warriors (22-8) made a spirited rally, holding Tech to one made field goal over an 8-minute stretch – while converting 8-of-11 3-point attempts in the final period. Quentin Raynor and Davion Brown each hit two triples in the 20-4 run that got LC back in the game, with a Raynor 25-footer inside the final 90 seconds getting the hosts even at 78-78.
Tech turned to Guerra, who converted a fall-away 10-footer in the paint to give the Owls an 80-78 lead, but the Warriors got a put-back lay-up from Alton Hamilton with 16 seconds left to tie the contest. OIT didn’t use their final timeout, instead giving Guerra a 1-on-1 chance – driving into the paint, faking right before leaning left to bank home the runner.
LC had a desperation attempt, but Erik Fraser intercepted the inbound pass – handing OIT their first-ever win at LC State.
OIT got a big blow early in the game, as post Blake Jensen was ejected due to a flagrant foul just three minutes into the contest. However, the visitors responded in a big way to the adversity, going on a 36-11 run over a 10-minute stretch to take command. Kody Bauman scored eight of his team-high 19 points in the run, Fraser canned a pair of 3-pointers, with Keegan Shivers and Jay Elmore hitting transition 3’s to give the Owls a 41-20 lead.
The Owls finished the night 32-of-57 from the field, while converting 12-of-13 free throws. Along with Bauman, Jackson Cooper was instrumental off the bench, scoring 15 points, with Guerra and Shivers each scoring 14.
Brown led LC with 18 points, with John Lustig scoring 12 of his 15 points in the second half.
The victory secured OIT their 25th 25-win season in program history. The Owls are in search of their sixth CCC tournament title and their first win in a CCC title game against C of I – having lost all six previous meetings (1986, 1988, 1989, 2001, 2004, 2020). The last-second shot by Guerra was the first game-winner inside the final second since Kellen Gerig scored at the horn to defeat Hope International in the 2022 NAIA National Tournament.
