KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - The University of California, Merced men's basketball team dropped an 86-68 affair to 2nd-ranked Oregon Tech Friday night in the first true road game of the season. Tonight's contest was part of the Lithia - Oregon Tech Classic on historic Danny Miles Court.
The Bobcats (4-1) entered the contest as the California Pacific Conference's only undefeated team and were within three with under eight minutes to go, 65-62, but ultimately couldn't put a stop to a late Oregon Tech run. Oregon Tech improved to 6-0 with the 18 point victory.
Raphael Durr led the Bobcats with 18 points and shot 100% (8-8) from the charity stripe to go along with a three steal, one block effort on the defensive end. His eight free throw attempts is a career-high, while his three steals tied his season-high.
Jonah Cottrell finished in double figures for the second time this year with 12 points, while Kingsley Obiorah tallied his first career double-double tallying ten points and ten rebounds. The sophomore's outing makes him the first player in program history to grab double figure rebounds in five straight games since Geroge Idehen did so January 11-January 30 of 2014. However, that streak was also five games so Obiorah can set a new standard in the Bobcats next game.
Obiorah also had a block on Friday night.
Ryan Haywood was good for eight points and a team-high three assists. Mason Westlake also had eight points as he buried his 70th and 71st career triple and has knocked down at least one shot from beyond the arc in all four games he has played in this season.
Oregon Tech's Mitchell Fink led all scorers with 30 points and opened the night with a bucket in the games first possession.
After the Bobcats got three defensive stops including forcing the Owls first turnover, Chiwike E'denchkwu scored inside for what would be the first of four ties in the next five minutes.
UC Merced took their first lead after breaking an 8-8 tie as Cottrell connected from distance to go up 11-8. Durr added a bucket 30 seconds later for the Bobcats biggest lead of the night.
But then Fink got going. The 2019 NAIA First Team All-American scored eleven of the Owls next 16 points, including eight straight at one point and the No. 2 team in the country turned the deficit into a 24-16 advantage. Fink had an assist and shot 100% (4-4) from the field during the four minute stretch.
Oregon Tech led by double figures for the first time at 26-16 with exactly eight minutes to play before halftime. The Bobcats were able to cut the deficit to seven multiple times but failed to get closer than that.
The Bobcats trailed 41-27 with four minutes left after a Fink triple. Seth Cobb answered with a triple of his own to avoid falling behind even further and the teams traded buckets up until it was time to go to the locker rooms with the scoreboard reading 47-34.
Despite trailing by 13 points, the Bobcats shot over 50% (15-29) from the floor but managed to just get rewarded with three free throws. Part of the reason for the Owls big lead at the break was the foul count as they got to the foul line nine times, eight times in the last ten minutes and shot 85% (18-21) from the stripe.
UC Merced shrunk the 13-point deficit to nine less than two minutes into the second half, 49-40.
Head coach Kevin Pham's team trailed by an average of 10 points the next seven minutes and it was Oregon Tech with a 61-51 lead with 11:22 remaining.
Obiorah got the deficit down to eight points with a putback and after 70 seconds of defensive stops, Westlake hit a three-point field goal to cut the margin to five at 61-56. Soon after, Haywood converted from distance and the Bobcats were down 63-59 with 9:09 to go.
Oregon Tech went up 65-59 before a Westlake triple brought the Bobcats within a possession, 65-62, for the first time since the 9:45 mark in the first half. The Bobcats stayed close for the next 90 seconds, but then an Oregon Tech bucket inside from Scotty Burge started an Owl 16-4 run to close the game.
The Bobcats trailed by double figures for the final four minutes and 22 seconds. Oregon Tech shot 67% (4-6) from the floor and 100% (8-8) from the line during their game-changing run.
Overall, the Bobcats limited the Owls to 44.% (26-58) in 40 minutes of basketball. It was the Owls lowest field goal percentage at home this year and lowest at home in a nonconference game since William Jessup stifled the Owls on November 18, 2017.
The Bobcats scored 12 points off 14 Oregon Tech turnovers but got outrebounded 41-28.
Kingsley Obiorah had four of the Bobcats five offensive rebounds and he put two of them right back up for a score.
Up next, the Bobcats have their second chance in as many days to take down a ranked opponent as they take on No. 18 Southern Oregon University on Danny Miles Court Saturday, November 16 at 3:00pm.
The Bobcats have won four straight neutral site games and eight of their last ten.
