ASHLAND – After making a 10-point deficit disappear down the stretch and dominating overtime in Saturday's 77-67 win over Bushnell at Lithia Motors Pavilion, the Southern Oregon men's basketball team is off to a 4-0 start in the Cascade Conference for the second time in the last 10 seasons.

The Raiders had the luxury of shrugging off some sloppy execution on a 20-turnover night thanks to the clutch playmaking of Gio Evanson, who delivered a healthy chunk of his career-high 25 points during the game's biggest moments. SOU trailed 58-48 with eight minutes left in regulation before he scored the first five in a 12-0 run, and the sophomore guard dropped in seven more as the Raiders (6-5 overall) outscored the Beacons (5-6, 2-2) 12-2 in the extra session.

They also leaned on their rebounding to overcome 42 combined points from Beacons stars Cody Johnson and Squeeky Johnson, finishing with a 51-27 advantage on the glass. Bryce Dyer pulled down a season-high 14 boards, including five on the offensive end, and Joe Juhala had nine rebounds to go with some critical buckets and two blocked shots in an 11-point outing.

Brady Rice logged nine points and eight rebounds for the Raiders. He knocked down the game-tying 3-pointer and before Juhala's bucket inside capped the 12-0 run and put them up 60-58 with 2:56 remaining in regulation, but the lead changed hands four more times after that.

Down 63-62 with under a minute to play, the Raiders went to Evanson, who hit a bump-fade through contact for a three-point play. On the other end, Kaleb Burnett drove the lane and finished with 25 seconds left to force OT.

It was all Raiders from there. Elijah Jackson triggered an 8-0 run with a step-back 3 on their first possession, and Evanson finished it with a midrange jumper and another 3 in transition. The Beacons missed all eight of their overtime attempts.

The Raiders had lost seven consecutive OT games dating back to the 2019-20 season. They've won each of their last six matchups with the Beacons.

Squeeky Johnson totaled 20 points, eight assists and three assists for Bushnell. His fifth and six 3-pointers gave the Beacons their first double-digit lead before they went the next five minutes without a field goal.


Evanson took advantage. He shot 9-of-18 from the field with four 3-pointers. After going 2-of-21 from deep through SOU's first nine games, he went 6-of-13 on the weekend.

The Raiders are back home Dec. 29 to face Simpson (Calif.) at 5 p.m. in a non-conference matchup. They return to CCC play Jan. 2 at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho).