ASHLAND – Southern Oregon's supply of late-game magic ran dry in a 73-70 Cascade Conference setback against Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) that forced a four-way tie for first place in the loss column on Saturday evening at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
The Raiders (14-8 overall, 11-3 CCC) missed three potential game-tying attempts from 3-point range in the final 10 seconds, the last a deep contested heave from
Trey Neff that grazed the rim as the buzzer sounded.
John Lustig scored a game-high 20 points for the Warriors (17-5, 11-3), who won despite surrendering 27 offensive rebounds that enabled SOU to get up 22 more shots than its visitors. The Raiders failed to take advantage, finishing at 32% from the field and 5-of-23 on 3-point tries.
SOU forward
Bryce Dyer notched his second straight double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds and kept the Raiders alive with nine points and seven offensive boards in the second half alone. With 29 seconds left and the Raiders down 71-67, he dumped off an inbounds pass to
Luke Wagstaff for a three-point play that cut LCSC's lead to one.
Warriors guard Brandon Suber coolly hit two free throws on the other end, and the Warriors got the defensive stop they needed to sweep the road trip. Dylan Skaife pitched in 16 points and Grayson Hunt shot 5-of-5 to add 11 with six rebounds.
The Raiders were attempting to win after trailing by double digits for the sixth time in conference play. They were in a nine-point hole at halftime before briefly taking the lead, then found themselves down 60-50 after a Hunt bucket with 9:40 remaining.
Elijah Jackson (18 points) and
Luke Wagstaff (17 points, 5 rebounds) helped them chip away.
Jace Anderson put up 12 points and seven rebounds, scoring eight in the first half.
If Oregon Tech defeats winless Walla Walla (Wash.) on Saturday night, the Owls will be tied with LCSC, SOU and Eastern Oregon at 11-3, while College of Idaho is looming at 10-4. The Raiders play five of their final six regular-season games on the road and travel next week to Bushnell and Corban.