ASHLAND – A 3-point barrage, the likes of which Southern Oregon hadn't produced this century, enabled the Raiders to end their string of late-game drama and score a comfortable 99-56 win against Evergreen (Wash.) on Friday night at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
Twenty-one of the Raiders' 33 buckets came from beyond the arc, and they hit them at a 47% clip to up their record to 7-5 overall and 2-4 in the Cascade Conference.
Elijah Jackson knocked down all four of his 3s in the first half,
Emmett Fenz made all five of his in the second, and
Gabe Reichle drilled four more. The trio combined to shoot 13-of-19 outside.
The performance was a major departure from the Raiders' recent shooting slump for the Raiders. They'd hit 21 triples in their last three games combined and needed 77 attempts to do so. It also ended a stretch of four consecutive games that were within one possession in the final three minutes.
Five Raiders scored in double figures: Fenz (15 points), Jackson (14),
Bryce Dyer (13), Reichle (12) and
Brady Rice (12). Dyer also collected 11 rebounds to notch his fourth double-double of the season.
Etan Collins added eight points and 10 rebounds, and
Mason Whittaker scored eight. Both made a pair of 3s. Whittaker hit both of his during a 10-0 run that extended SOU's lead to 60-36.
The Raiders were sitting on 66 points with 13 minutes left when Fenz came on and got loose. He did all of career-best damage during an eight-minute shift.
Jerry Boston Jr. had 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting for the Geoducks (1-8, 1-5). Nathan Behr scored 11.
The win was SOU's 25th in a row against Evergreen.
The Raiders – who'd played each of their previous 11 games on the road – are home again to play Northwest (Wash.) at 5 p.m. Saturday.