Klamath Falls, Ore. | Despite a quiet night on the offensive side of the ball for the Warner Pacific University Men's Basketball team (14-14, 10-10), the Knights falling to the Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls (20-8, 17-3) by a final score of 64-91 was overshadowed by Warner Pacific's clinching of a spot in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Playoffs for the 14^th consecutive season that the tournament has been held.
 
Even with the Knights dropping their second consecutive conference game in southern Oregon, the results from around the conference provided WPU with the record necessary to punch their spot in the CCC Playoffs, regardless of what happens next weekend in the regular season finale.
 
With Oregon Tech celebrating their Senior Day festivities, and coming off a buzzer-beating defeat in their first ever loss to Multnomah University the night before, the energy that the OIT lineup brought with them to the floor appeared to be quite the daunting task for the Knights.
 
Regardless of the Owls' vigor, Knights' Head Coach Jamayne Potts had his team ready to roll on Danny Miles Court, as Warner Pacific won the tip and immediately hit a three-pointer to silence the jazzed Oregon Tech crowd.
 
However, OIT is clearly the #2 ranked team in the conference for a reason, as the Owls responded with back-to-back baskets to gain their first lead of the evening. Warner Pacific and Oregon Tech went back-and-forth over the next nine minutes, with WPU taking a narrow one-point lead at the 11:44 mark in the first half.
 
This would prove to be the final Warner Pacific lead of the evening, as the subsequent three-pointer by OIT would give them a two point lead, and they would never look back in their final home game of the 2021-22 regular season.
 
A 21-7 run by the Owls through the second portion of the first half would prove to be the difference maker at halftime, as Warner Pacific just couldn't find the bottom of the net trip after trip down the court. Finding open looks wasn't the problem for the Knights, it was simply converting on their offensive opportunities that evaded them the entirety of tonight's contest. There seemed to be an imaginary lid on the Knights' basket that they just couldn't shake as the evening progressed into a 29-43 deficit for WPU at halftime.
 
Warner Pacific was able to even the playing field through the first 10 minutes of the second half, but the lead that the Owls had grown going into the halftime break proved to be too much to overcome, as the Knights' missed opportunities started to catch up with them once again. With 9:46 remaining in the contest, OIT took their first 20 point lead of the game, and the lead slowly grew from there, ending in the 64-91 final score.
 
The Knights were led in scoring once again by sophomore guard Tyrese Yussuf-Willis, who dropped 12 points and added pairs of rebounds, steals, and assists in 29 minutes played. Senior forward Darius Traylor added seven points with seven rebounds to the final stat total for Warner Pacific.
 
Owls' guard Keegan Shivers came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, while adding five boards and a pair of steals along the way. Fellow reserve guard Kaison Faust added 12 points with seven rebounds, while dishing out a game-high four assists.
 
The Warner Pacific Men's Basketball team returns to action next Friday and Saturday at C.C. Perry Gym, where they host the #9 College of Idaho Yotes and Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers, respectively. Those contests are slated to begin at 7:30pm and 5pm PDT, right after the conclusion of the WPU Women's Basketball games.