ROCKLIN, Calif. - The Warrior men's basketball team took on their first nationally recognized opponent in Oregon Tech, ranked No. 16 in the NAIA DII Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, Saturday afternoon on the final day of the 11th Annual Bill Holtz Classic. Jessup maintained a ten point lead for the majority of the game with the fabulous five in double figures to hold on to the 91-87 victory over the Owls to improve to a 4-0.

Head coach in his fifth season, Lance Von Vogt was pleased with his team's endurance, "Learning to play with a lead is a skill that has to be developed and tonight we were able to do that for 40 minutes against a very good OIT team."

Continuing their streak from beyond the arc, the Warriors opened up the game with back-to-back threes by Tate DeLaVeaga and Brandon Lindsey. They maintained a 10-point lead through the majority of the first half shooting 51-percent from the field with as much as a 17-point lead at the 3-minute mark.

Going into the second-half Jessup held a 12-point advantage over the visiting Owls (48-36) as Antonio Lewis led the Warriors with 10 points. A quick basket cut the lead to under 10 by leading-scorer for the night, Owls' Mitchell Fink who retired with the game-high 30 points, 18 coming in the final half. 

At the midway point in the closing half, the Owls would cut the Warrior lead to four (61-57) but a quick layup by Keith Phillips sparked a 6-0 run, Jessup was back up 67-57 forcing an Owls timeout.

With just under 30-seconds to play, Fink would make it a two-possession game for the Owls as the Warriors led 87-82. Sinking 4-of-4 from the charity stripe down the stretch, the Warriors held on for the 91-87 victory.

Leading the force for the Warriors was the fabulous-five in double figures starting with Medearis who had 22 points shooting 8-11 from the field with 10 rebounds. He was joined by teammates Lewis with 15 points and 7 rebounds, Lindsey with 14 points, DeLaVeaga with 11 and Phillips closing out with 10.

"Our depth and versatility is our biggest asset and I believe us having five in double figures makes it difficult for opposing teams to key on just one or two guys," Von Vogt affirmed. 

The Warriors continue their 4-0 home start next Saturday against UC Merced at 4 pm in Warrior Arena.

"It's nice to win early in the season, but our goal is to truly just improve incrementally every day and every game," Von Vogt said. "Moving forward we will need to improve our ball handling, decision making and clock management down the stretch of games."
  William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat).