BOXSCORE 

A hot first half helped offset a frigid second half as the Southern Oregon men held off William Jessup for an 85-77 victory tonight at McNeal Pavilion in the nightcap of the opening day of the Flagship Inn Invitational.

Oregon Tech defeated Willamette in the opening game 97-71. OIT will play William Jessup Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and the Raiders will host Willamette at 7:30.

Drew Herrera (Medford, Ore./North Medford) led the Raiders (6-1) with a game-high 20 points. Justonn Smith (Redwood City, Calif./Woodside) added 19, while Humphrey Jackson (Redwood City, Calif./Woodside) had 14 points and five assists and Roland Johnson (Yuba City, Calif./Yuba) came off the bench for 13 points.

Jason Washington led the Warriors (2-6) with 17 points.

The Raiders started off the game on fire, hitting five of their first five 3-pointers and leading 48-34 at the half. SOU finished the first 20 minutes shooting 59 percent from the field and hitting on 7 of 9 from beyond the 3-point line.

In the second half, the Raiders went ice cold. The Raiders missed their first 12 shots of the half and the game was tied at 60-60 when Herrera hit a runner at the 6:41 mark to give the Raiders their first field goal of the half and the lead for good. During SOU's field goal drought, the Raiders stayed alive going 14-for-14 from the free throw line during the stretch.

Johnson added a layup with 3:24 to give SOU a 73-64 lead and after the Warriors cut the lead to 75-72, Herrera nailed a 3-pointer to put the game away.