POINT LOOKOUT, Mo.(Box Score) -The Oregon Institute of Technology men's basketball team knocked off Judson University in the opening round of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship Wednesday, 63-57. The 2010 event is being held at the Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks (Mo.).

The second seeded Hustlin' Owls had to work for its ninth consecutive first round victory. The first 10 minutes featured three lead changes and two ties, including a pair of Josh Weber free throws for JU that tied the game at 14 with 11:11 remaining in the first half.

OIT (30-4) then used a 21-0 run over the next eight minutes to stretch its lead to 35-14 with 3:12 remaining in the first half. Judson would make a run of their own and hold the Owls scoreless for the rest of the half, 12-0.

A Justin Parnell jumper gave Tech its largest lead of the second half, 43-31, with 13:53 remaining in regulation. The Eagles then made another run, this time a Jim Kuban basket capped off a 17-4 run that gave Judson the lead back with 8:15 remaining in the game.

The lead changed only twice over the next five minutes with the lead never larger than three points.

Joseph Foster led four OIT double-digit scorers with 17 points. Justin Parnell added 12, Myles Daley had 11, and Scott Riddle chipped in 10. Daley added a game-high 12 rebounds. Judson held Tech to 1-for-13 shooting from behind the perimeter. The Hustlin' Owls entered the game shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc.

The Eagles (17-13) were 4-for-19 from behind the arc and shot 31 percent from the field in the game. Oregon Tech finished shooting 33 percent from the field.

Kuban led JU with 14 points on 6-for-19 shooting from the field. Landon Skinner finished with 11 and Josh Edwards had 10. LeStan Hoskins had a team-high 10 rebounds.

The scoring margin was the closest for a first round game featuring the two seed since Bethel College (Ind.) defeated Northwest Nazarene University (Idaho) in 1999, 96-90. Bethel went on to be the national runner-up that season. Only one second-seed has ever lost in the opening round when Grace fell to Northwest Nazarene in 1993, 86-75.

Oregon Tech advances to the second round and will play 15th-seeded St. Francis Friday at 4 p.m. The 32-team, single elimination tournament concludes March 17, 2009. undefined undefined