DeSaulnier
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
73
Northwest University NUM 12-7, 2-5
84
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 16-3, 6-2
Northwest University NUM
12-7, 2-5
73
Final
84
Southern Oregon SOU
16-3, 6-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Northwest University NUM 29 44 73
Southern Oregon SOU 33 51 84

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | SOU Sports Information

DeSaulnier's career night sparks Raiders' 84-73 win over Eagles

ASHLAND – The maturation of freshman guard Ben DeSaulnier (Philomath, Ore./Philomath) continued to pay big dividends for the 11th-ranked Southern Oregon men's basketball team in Saturday's 84-73 win over Northwest University (Wash.) at Riehm Arena.

DeSaulnier, a Philomath product, racked up a career-high 22 points, including 16 in the second half to spark the Raiders and help them close out a key weekend sweep.

SOU (16-3 overall, 6-2 Cascade Conference) is alone in first place but one of four teams with two CCC losses. The Raiders will close out the first half of circuit action next Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. clash with Oregon Tech (12-6, 5-3) in Klamath Falls.

Northwest (12-7, 2-5) had SOU's lead down to 64-60 when Nemanja Grujicic hit a pair of free throws with 4:36 remaining. DeSaulnier went to the hoop, was fouled and made two free throws on the other end, and Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) responded to a Gruicic basket with a jumper of his own.

The Raiders began to pull away at that point, getting a stop and a DeSaulnier steal that led to two Thompson free throws and DeSaulnier's transition layup for a 72-62 lead with 2:20 remaining.

Thompson finished with 14 points, and Tim Weber (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) had 15 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals – registering 11 points and seven assists after halftime as he was slowed by first-half foul trouble. Jordan West (Gymea Bay, Australia/Port Hacking) added 12 points and six rebounds, and Joel Spear (Adelaide, Australia/St. Michaels) had 11 points.

One night after shooting 73 percent in a rout of Evergreen, the Raiders hit at 57 percent and made 15 of 22 attempts in the second half.

The Eagles kept pace by going 30-for-55, the second-best shooting night for a Raider opponent this season. Grujicic had 22 on a 9-of-11 effort, Dak Shagren added 18, and CJ Carter and Tomas Ogbaslassie had 11 apiece.

SOU, which had a 33-29 halftime lead, went up 44-36 with 15:35 left on DeSaulnier's 3-point but couldn't run away. Weber found DeSaulnier for another triple with 6:38 left that put SOU up 61-53 and Ogbaslassie answered back with a 3-pointer of his own.

DeSaulnier, who averaged 2.8 points in the first nine games of his collegiate career, has scored 11 or more in six of his last seven, all off the bench. He's shooting 65 percent overall during that stretch – he was 6-for-8 on Saturday and 8-for-8 from the line – and 50 percent from 3-point range.

The game was Weber's ninth with at least eight assists this season. He went 11-for-14 from the field this weekend, averaging 9.5 assists.

Kenny Meyer (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs) added eight points off the bench for the Raiders.

SOU is 7-0 at home this season. Road teams lost all nine games this weekend around the conference.

The Eagles were coming off Friday's 64-62 loss at Oregon Tech in which Carter missed a last-second look in the paint.
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