ASHLAND –
Will Graves got loose around the Evergreen (Wash.) zone defense and
Tez Allen joined an exclusive Southern Oregon club as the Raiders pulled away for an 80-56 blowout in Cascade Conference play Friday night at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
Graves, a senior guard from Eugene, lit up the Geoducks with a season-high 25 points, shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 5-of-9 from 3. He added three steals and four rebounds in his sixth double-figure outing of the season.
Allen, a senior guard from Carson City, Nev., recorded 13 points, six assists and four rebounds, and in the process became the 24th 1,000-point scorer in program history. He's just the second in that group to also have 400-plus career assists to his name.
The Raiders (5-4 overall, 2-2 CCC) led for the final 37 minutes but had to rally to enjoy the big cushion. The Geoducks trimmed a 13-point edge to 32-31 before Graves and Allen closed the half with back-to-back 3-pointers, and SOU outscored them 17-8 in the opening minutes of the second as Allen scored or assisted the team's first five buckets in the period.
Evergreen dropped to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the CCC with its 21st consecutive loss to SOU.
The Raiders overcame 17 turnovers by grabbing 14 offensive rebounds, four of which belonged to
Joe Juhala during his seven-point, nine-board performance.
Dominic McGarvey helped them to a 42-18 advantage on points in the paint with 13 on 6-of-7 shooting. The junior forward also totaled six rebounds, five assists and a block.
Khalil Chatman contributed six points and seven rebounds.
The occasion was the second in which Graves has surpassed the 20-point mark. Over SOU's last six games combined, he's shot 17-of-32 from 3-point range.
Tyler Williford led the Geoducks with 18 points and nine rebounds.
The Raiders are home again at 5 p.m. Saturday to face Northwest (Wash.).