desaulnier
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
78
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 18-5, 11-2 CCC
76
Warner Pacific WPC 14-8, 9-4 CCC
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
18-5, 11-2 CCC
78
Final
76
Warner Pacific WPC
14-8, 9-4 CCC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southern Oregon SOU 40 38 78
Warner Pacific WPC 47 29 76

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

DeSaulnier's bank at the buzzer gives Raiders 78-76 triumph over Knights

PORTLAND – One month after erasing Warner Pacific's 18-point second-half lead to pull out a 92-90 stunner in Ashland, the Southern Oregon men's basketball team found a more painful way to break the Knights' hearts on Friday: with a bank-shot at the buzzer.

Tied at 76 with 5.5 seconds to play, the 15th-ranked Raiders fed Ben DeSaulnier out of a timeout. He dribbled the length of the floor, split the defense, leaned in and threw a 17-footer off the backboard as time expired, giving SOU a pivotal 78-76 win at C.C. Perry Gym.

SOU (18-5 overall, 11-2 Cascade Conference) had been one game ahead of the Knights (14-8, 9-4) for second place coming into the game. After their first regular-season sweep of WPC in 11 years, the Raiders have a two-game cushion going into Saturday's 7:30 p.m. game at Multnomah.

Jordan West recorded 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two blocks to lead four Raiders in double figures. DeSaulnier got his 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting with eight rebounds, Justin Martin scored 12 and Clay Sierra added 10 points and five boards. Joel Spear just missed a triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

As they have now in seven of their 11 conference wins, the Raiders trailed at halftime, 47-40. The Knights scorched the nets in the opening 20 minutes with 18-of-32 shooting, 7-of-13 accuracy from 3-point range.

SOU hung in, though, and tied it for the first time at 55 on Martin's 3-pointer with 10:41 remaining. But in the next 78 seconds, the Knights forced three turnovers and scored eight unanswered points, with six from Ashland High product Collin Malcolm.

The Raiders' counter was a quick 7-0 run – West scored four straight and DeSaulnier made a 3-pointer in the corner – and they tied the game again when Martin hit a triple to make it 65-65 with 6:30 left.

With 2:34 left, Spear fed Sierra to tie it for a fifth time at 74. The teams traded turnovers and misses until Spear was fouled near midcourt with 27 seconds left, and he converted both free throws to put the Raiders up 76-74. On the other end, Clay Sierra blocked Taylor Young's shot and was fouled with 11 seconds left, but he missed both free throws.

Jones, who had 15 points and six assists, tied it once more for the Knights with a floater in the lane that banked in.

DeSaulnier – who also made a buzzer-beater in SOU's 67-66 win at Menlo on Nov. 27 – had  the answer and the last correspondence of the night with the backboard.

Young scored 18 of his 26 in the first half and shot 11-of-21 to lead the Knights. Malcolm had nine points and 10 boards, and De'Jon Bowman had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
 
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