HIGHLAND, Kan. - Shooting a season-high 53.7 percent from the field and finishing with four scorers in double figures, Highland (6-0) pulled away from Ottawa University in the second half for a 94-68 win on Monday night. Tavian Tate and Adriel Smith each finished with 14 points to lead all scorers, with Tate hauling in 10 rebounds to earn a double-double.

The first two minutes of the contest were less a shining example of basketball and more a slog through the mud, as both teams shot well off the mark. Highland missed its first three shots of the night while Ottawa missed four before Tate broke on to the scoreboard. After drawing a foul and knocking down both free throws, Tate was on the end of a swipe and pass by Smith, finishing the three-point play after getting fouled again on the break.

Mikey Gerhardt was able to answer back for Ottawa, hitting a jumper then bookending a pair of triples around a layup by Garret Winslow to put Ottawa in front 10-7 with 15:24 on the clock.

That would be the only time Highland trailed on the night, as Takeo Smith answered with a layup and Miguel Villegas followed up with back-to-back three-pointers. A Winslow bucket followed by a pair of free throws by Dylan Nieto briefly closed the gap to 15-14, but Jaden Williams responded with a layup and followed with a three-pointer after a Conner Lockhart steal to put Highland up by two possessions again, leading 20-14.

Ottawa was able to briefly tie the game twice more in the first half, first at 24-24 and again at 26-26 with 5:44 left in the half, but Highland ended the first half on a 16-4 run and added nine straight points out of halftime to put the game well out of reach. Smith finished off the nine-point spurt by the Scotties with three straight fast break layups, putting HCC in front 51-30 with just under three minutes gone in the second half.

Highland shrugged off three attempts by the Braves to close the gap to fewer than 20 points, with a three-point play by Tate giving the Scotties a 20-point cushion for good with 13:33 to play.

The Scotties shot better than 50 percent in both halves - hitting 16-of-31 (51.61 pct) in the first half and 20-of-36 (55.56 pct) in the second - and held Ottawa to just 37.1 percent (23-62) shooting on the night. Highland dominated the scoring battle in the paint with 56 points to just 24 for the Braves and grabbed 32 fast-break points on the night.

Highland is on the road for its next two games, heading to Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Wednesday night to take on Iowa Western. Tipoff for the game is set for 7:30 p.m.