spear
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
75
Southern Oregon SOU 23-6, 16-3 CCC
85
Winner Northwest Christian NCU 24-5, 17-2 CCC
Southern Oregon SOU
23-6, 16-3 CCC
75
Final
85
Northwest Christian NCU
24-5, 17-2 CCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southern Oregon SOU 36 39 75
Northwest Christian NCU 37 48 85

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

No. 12 Beacons hold off Raiders for first conference title

EUGENE – An opening was never provided for the 11th-ranked Southern Oregon men's basketball team Friday night by No. 12 Northwest Christian at the Morse Events Center.

Deflated by the shot-making of the Beacons, the Raiders didn't have enough left to get over the hump in an 85-75 loss. NCU (24-5 overall, 17-2 conference) shot 50 percent from the field, including a 10-for-20 mark from 3-point range, and clinched at least a share of the Cascade Conference title along with an automatic bid to the NAIA Div. II tournament.

The Raiders (23-6, 16-3) fell a game behind with one to go, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Corban. They can still earn a share of the regular-season title with a win over the Warriors and an NCU loss to Oregon Tech.

The Raiders are assured the No. 2 seed in the CCC tournament and will host seventh-seeded Corban in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday regardless of what happens in the regular-season finale.

Omar Richards finished with game-highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Beacons, shooting 10-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from the line. Jack Hackman went 3-for-3 from downtown to score 15 points and all three other Beacons starters hit double figures.

Joel Spear matched a season-high with 25 points for the Raiders, adding eight rebounds and two assists. Ben DeSaulnier scored 14 and Jordan West had 12.

SOU got an early leg up when DeSaulnier and Kenny Meyer made back-to-back 3s for a 26-21 lead 13 minutes into the game. There were seven lead changes in the half and that wasn't the last, but West's layup 13 seconds before halftime trimmed NCU's lead to 37-36 at the break.

The Beacons scored the first five points of the second half – Javonte Byrd made a 3 and Omar Richards a second-chance layup – and Ricards made it 48-42 on a 3-pointer with 16:40 left.

The Raiders were down 60-52 with the ball and 11 minutes left when Kenny Blackwell picked Meyers' pocket and converted an open layup. NCU didn't lead by less than nine the rest of the way.

The Beacons had never won a title since first joining the CCC for the 2007-08 season. SOU had won the first meeting between the teams, 80-75 in Ashland on Dec. 6.
 
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