DILLON, Mont. – Southern Oregon's shooting struggles persisted in an 85-65 loss to Montana Western on Friday afternoon at the Western Classic.

Bulldogs guard Kyle Gruhler lit up SOU with 32 points, scoring 19 of those during the first half to give his team a 14-point edge at the break.

The Raiders (0-3), meanwhile, shot 32% from the field, their lowest clip in four years. After jumping out to a 9-2 lead, they watched UMW (3-0) take control for good with a 25-5 run.

Joe Juhala led SOU with 15 points and two steals. Elijah Jackson scored 10, Bryce Dyer had six points and nine boards, and Trey Neff gave the Raiders a lift with 10 second-half points off the bench, going 3-of-5 with a pair of 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs – who were picked to finish second in the Frontier Conference behind No. 11-ranked Montana Tech, SOU's opponent a day earlier – supplemented Gruhler's production with Emanuel Steward's 14 points and Joshua Whiteside's 10. They hit at 51% from the field.

The Raiders are off for two weeks before traveling to Klamath Falls to face Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) on Nov. 14 and Hope International (Calif.) on Nov. 15.