KLAMATH FALLS – Southern Oregon put itself in position for an upset with a hot second half but couldn't finish the job in a 79-73 loss to first-place Oregon Tech on Tuesday night at Danny Miles Court.

SOU clung to a 67-64 lead with under four minutes to play until Keegan Shivers' game-tying 3-pointer started a decisive 9-0 spurt for the Owls. Shivers gave them the lead on their next possession with 2:26 remaining on a pair of free throws while SOU came up empty on six straight possessions.

The Raiders had trailed by nine points early in the second half and were down 53-46 before making their move. Mason Whittaker sparked them with back-to-back 3-pointers, Tez Allen and K'wan Carter hit two more consecutively, and within a few minutes they suddenly had a 14-0 run and a 60-53 lead.

The Raiders (14-12, 11-7 Cascade Conference) hit seven 3-pointers in the second half, shot 49 percent from the field for the game and put all five starters in double figures: Atmar Mundu (17 points), Carter (16 points), Josh Meyer (12 points), Allen (10 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists) and Whittaker (10 points).

In the end they were haunted by 18 turnovers. The Owls (19-7, 16-2) only committed seven and had a slight edge on the offensive glass. The result was nine more field-goal attempts and seven more chances at the free-throw line.

Shivers bailed out the Owls with 23 points off the bench, including 16 in the second half. His efforts kept them tied with College of Idaho atop the standings with four games to play.

The Raiders are now tied with Corban in third place. Two teams they'll still see again, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and Warner Pacific, are a game back in fifth.

SOU hosts Warner Pacific at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Multnomah at 5 p.m. Saturday inside Lithia Motors Pavilion.