Box Score BOX SCORE

ROCKLIN, Calif. – A frantic 2011-12 season-opener saw 11 tie scores and 21 lead changes, but ultimately Southern Oregon fell short as the men's basketball team fell 87-86 to William Jessup Wednesday night at Warrior Arena.

The Raiders fall to 0-1 with the loss, while William Jessup improves to 1-0. The Raiders return to action tomorrow night, when they travel to Fresno, Calif., to face Fresno Pacific at 7:30 p.m.

The first half featured five ties and 13 lead changes as William Jessup took a four-point 45-41 lead into the break. No team led by more than six points, as a jumper by WJU's Jordan Wilson put the hosts up 39-33 with 2:46 to play in the period.

Dex Daum (Fallon, Nev./Churchill) cut the lead in half with a three-pointer on the other end of the court, and a pair of free throws by Jeff Bush (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) pulled SOU to within one at 39-38 with less than 90 seconds remaining. After a pair of WJU free throws, Joe White (Springfield, Ore./Thurston) dropped a trey to tie the game at 41-41 with 37 seconds to play before the break. Chris Fahrensohn responded with a three of his own and turned it into a four-point play with a free throw to give the Warriors their halftime advantage.

The Raiders scored the first five points of the second half, including a three-pointer by Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) to take a brief 46-45 lead. After William Jessup tied it up at 48-48, the Raiders used a 9-1 run to build the biggest lead of the game for either team, capped by a Daum jumper to make it 57-49 with 14:13 to play. The Warriors scored 10 of the next 12 points and tied it up at 59-59 on a Julius Smith three-pointer with a little more than 10 minutes remaining.

Southern Oregon regained a four-point lead when Taylor Roos (Salem, Ore./Sprague)' jumper made it 70-66 with 6:22 to play, but William Jessup forced a tie at 74-74 with less than three minutes to play. After the Warriors made a pair of free throws to take a two point lead, they would not give up the lead the rest of the way.

The Raiders trailed by five points with 10 seconds remaining, but Roos converted a three-point play by sinking a jumper and making a free throw to pull SOU within two. After Marqus Crawford made a free throw to stretch the lead back to three, Tim Weber (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) made a jumper as time expired to reach the final score of 87-86.

Four Raiders reached double-figures in the scoring column, led by Thompson's 17 points. Bush, Roos and Scott Tiefenthaler (Spanaway, Wash./Bethel) each added 12 for SOU. Thompson grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in the loss. For William Jessup, Anthony Anderson scored a game-high 24 points, connecting on 5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc. Crawford made 13-of-16 shots from the charity stripe to finish with 19 points.