west
Jordan West goes up for a shot during the first half Friday. (Photo courtesy of Liza Safford.)
85
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 15-4, 8-1 CCC
79
College of Idaho CI 11-7, 6-3 CCC
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
15-4, 8-1 CCC
85
Final
79
College of Idaho CI
11-7, 6-3 CCC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southern Oregon SOU 37 48 85
College of Idaho CI 36 43 79

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

No. 12 Raiders finish strong to end Yotes' home streak

CALDWELL, Idaho – Despite jumping out to a 16-2 lead at 25th-ranked College of Idaho, a place where 23 straight Cascade Collegiate visitors had faltered, Southern Oregon University's start Friday night wasn't as rosy as the scoreboard made it seem.

Within the first seven minutes of play at the J.A. Alberton Activities Center, Raider starters Kenny Meyer, Clay Sierra and Jordan West had all been sent to the bench with foul trouble. They were back to finish the job in the second half, however, and Joel Spear was a steadying force throughout as No. 12 SOU defeated the second-place Coyotes, 85-79.

West finished with 21 points and seven rebounds, and Spear had 15 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and four assists as the Raiders (15-4 overall, 8-1 CCC) became the first visiting team to leave Caldwell with a conference win in 24 tries.

In front of a partisan crowd of 1,925, the Yotes dropped to 11-7 and 6-3 in the conference. SOU remained tied in first place with Northwest Christian, now with a two-game cushion in front of third-place Warner Pacific and C of I. The Raiders visit Eastern Oregon at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

SOU's entire 14-point lead disappeared before halftime, but Tristen Holmes' floater at the buzzer gave the Raiders a 37-36 edge at the break. Nine lead changes later, with the Yotes up 52-51 on Marck Coffin's jumper and 12:46 to play, the Raiders swung the game with eight straight points to get in front for good as Ben DeSaulnier's steal to a made layup and Clay Sierra's transition tip-in of DeSaulnier's miss made it 59-52.

The Yotes responded with the next six points, but West worked the lane for a layup, Kenny Meyer drove and scored, and Sierra tipped in two more misses to extend a one-point advantage to 67-58 with 4:44 left.

SOU was atrocious at the line – missing the front ends of five one-and-one opportunities – but made seven of its last eight free throws to wind up 16-of-29 and seal the victory.

Sierra, who punctuated the win with a steal to a wide-open dunk that made it a nine-point game with five ticks left, totaled 12 of his 15 points and seven of his nine boards in the second half. Ten of West's points came after he picked up his third foul in the first half, and DeSaulnier totaled 10 points, five assists and five rebounds.

After going 12-for-29 in the first stanza, the Raiders shot 53 percent (19-of-36) in the second.

Justin Martin helped them through some early droughts with three of his four 3-pointers in the first half.

SOU's win was its first at C of I since Dec. 17, 2011, and just the second in its last 10 trips.

College of Idaho got 25 points apiece from Dominique Jordan and Joey Nebeker. But Nebeker, the CCC's second-leading scorer, was held to 2-of-8 shooting in the final 20 minutes.
 
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