meyer
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
90
Warner Pacific WPC 9-5, 6-0
92
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 13-3, 6-0
Warner Pacific WPC
9-5, 6-0
90
Final
92
Southern Oregon SOU
13-3, 6-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Warner Pacific WPC 54 36 90
Southern Oregon SOU 42 50 92

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

Raiders erase 18-point deficit, take first place from Warner Pacific

ASHLAND – In a fight for an early leg up in the Cascade Conference standings, the Southern Oregon men's basketball team found time to squeeze one last rope-a-dope routine into 2015 on Thursday night at Mountain Avenue Gym.

The 10th-ranked Raiders led for all of 95 seconds and trailed Warner Pacific by as many as 18 points in the second half, but another thrilling comeback gave them a 92-90 win over the Knights and first place all to themselves heading into the new year.

Senior forward Jordan West went for 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and sophomore guard Kenny Meyer established career-highs of 18 points and five assists – making all three of his 3-point tries down the stretch to bring the Raiders back.

With Tuesday's rivalry game at Oregon Tech up next, the Raiders are 13-3 overall and 6-0 in CCC play for the first time since the 1998-99 season. WPC dropped to 10-2 and 5-1 in the circuit.

The Knights positioned themselves for a rout by going 7-of-13 from downtown in the first half to take a 54-42 lead into the break, and Keaton Bankofier's triple had them up 65-47 with 15:48 remaining. That's when the Raiders began chipping away.

They started with a 9-0 run, capped by West's 3 at the 13:04 mark, but WPC pushed its lead back to 79-68 when Taylor Young hit a contested jumper with 6:12 left. Meyer responded with seven unanswered points – making a jumper, two free throws and a triple – but the Knights answered again, and Johnson's free throw with 2:52 left made it 86-78.

What followed were 3-pointers on three consecutive SOU possessions – the first by Joel Spear, the second by Meyer and another deep one by Meyer that finally put the Raiders up, 87-86, with 1:32 left.

WPC point guard Earl Jones, who recorded 13 points and 11 assists, got to the basket and converted on the ensuing possession before Ben DeSaulnier's basket-and-one in the lane gave SOU a 90-88 edge with 32 seconds remaining. The Raiders then got a stop, and Meyer pushed the lead to three by hitting one of two free throws, and De'Jon Bowman's layup with two seconds left was all the Knights could muster. DeSaulnier made one free throw, and Spencer Bankofier's desperation attempt from beyond half-court wasn't close at the buzzer.

Clay Sierra finished with 15 points for SOU. DeSaulnier had 14 points and five assists, and Spear went for 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Twenty-five of the Raiders' 32 baskets were assisted, giving them 57 assists on 72 makes on the week.

Meyer's big night was highlighted by 4-of-5 shooting from downtown. The Raiders went 11-of-21 outside as a team.

WPC, which had its seven-game win streak snapped, got 21 points and six rebounds from Young and 20 points and 11 boards out of Bowman off the bench. After shooting 56 percent in the first half (19-of-34), the Knights shot 39 percent (14-of-36) in the second.

The Knights have still yet to trail at halftime of a CCC game, while SOU has trailed in five of its six circuit affairs.
 
Print Friendly Version