Cody Aker Lifts Concordia (Ore.) to 71-67 Upset at No. 4 Oregon Tech :: Aker notched career-high 30 points; Oregon Tech loses at home for 2nd time this year

Aker notched career-high 30 points; Oregon Tech loses at home for 2nd time this year

Feb. 23, 2008

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - In his final week of regular-season college basketball, senior Cody Aker posted a career-high 30 points to lead Concordia (Ore.) to one of its biggest wins over his tenure with the Cavaliers with a 71-67 upset over No. 4-ranked Oregon Tech on Feb. 22.

With the win, Concordia improved to 15-13 overall and 11-8 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. OIT dropped just its fifth game of the season to fall to 24-5 and 15-4 in the CCC. With one game remaining,

Concordia has clinched a spot in the conference playoffs and currently sits in fifth-place in the league standings.

Oregon Tech dropped one game behind Eastern Oregon (23-4, 16-3 CCC) for second place in the conference results.

In a first half that featured seven ties, Oregon Tech opened up the period's largest lead with a five-point swing at the 7:26 mark. The Cavs would recover with a 10-5 run capped by an Aker (Portland, Ore./Wilson H.S.) layup to tie the contest at 22 before a Ryan Murray (Pitt Meadows, B.C./Terry Fox S.S.) three pointer with just under three minutes remaining gave Concordia its first lead since the score read 4-2.

Following the break, Aker would help push the lead to 10 with a three-point shot of his own at the 13:40 mark. Led by eight points by Ryan Beesley (Rotorua, New Zealand), the Owls would cut the deficit to one on two occasions, the second via a Myles Daley (Medford, Ore./S. Medford H.S.) jumper with 9:23 remaining.

But with the Cavs successfully firing for 7-of-15 from three-point land, including 5-of-8 from behind the arc by Aker for 15 of his 20 second-half points, Concordia would never relinquish its lead in the second half to hand OIT its first loss of the month; snapping the Owls' seven-game winning streak.

Aker finished with a game-high nine rebounds and a career-high 30 points, besting his previous high mark of 28 points set against Northwest on Feb. 2. Off the bench, Murray tallied 17 points off 3-of-6 on three-point attempts and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Beasley led the Owls with 12 points.

"It was a big win tonight," Concordia head coach Brad Barbarick said, "Cody made some big shots for us and our freshman Jason Yecny did outstanding defensive work against one of the top players in the conference in Ryan Fiegi."

Concordia concludes its regular season at Southern Oregon (9-20, 5-14 CCC) on Saturday with tip at 7:30 p.m. OIT hosts Corban on Saturday before awaiting the conference tournament schedule.