Dex Daum hit three three-pointers for SOU in the win
SOU Men Narrowly Down Northwest Christian 63-59
BOX SCORE
ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon men’s basketball team overcame a halftime deficit and held on late to pull out a 63-59 Cascade Collegiate Conference win over Northwest Christian Friday night at Bob Riehm Arena.
Southern Oregon improves to 6-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play with the win, while Northwest Christian falls to 5-5 overall and 0-1 in the CCC. Both teams will return to action tomorrow night, with the Raiders hosting Corban and the Beacons traveling to Klamath Falls to face Oregon Tech at 7:30 p.m.
Eric Thompson finished with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds for the Raiders, with Dex Daum adding 12 points and Kyle Tedder finishing with 11. Travis Pacos led Northwest Christian with 13 points, with Trevor Parker adding 12 and Jordan Buehler tallying 11 in the loss.
The Raiders shot 55.6 percent from the field in the second half (10-of-18) as they battled back from a 29-24 halftime deficit to take the lead midway through the half. Southern Oregon led by as many as six points in the first 10 minutes of the game, but NCU used an eight-point run to take the lead and set up a second half that featured five tie scores and five lead changes.
Southern Oregon scored the first four points of the second period and tied it up at 33-33 on a pair of Thompson free throws a couple minutes after the break, but Northwest Christian built its lead back to five points at 45-40 on Parker’s three-pointer with 12:57 to play. The Raiders responded with a 10-point run that featured eight free throws to turn the five-point deficit into a five-point advantage with just under eight minutes remaining.
Northwest Christian tied the game at 52-52 following Jordan Myers’ three-pointer and a pair of Greg Shepard free throws. A few minutes later, Buhler’s layup gave the Beacons their final lead of the contest at 57-55. Thompson hit a trey at the other end of the floor to put SOU back up by one with two minutes to play, and neither team would score again until less than 15 seconds remained.
Terriel Thomas made three of four free throw attempts to put SOU up by four with seven seconds remaining, and after Brian Hampton made a layup to pull NCU within two, Kyle Tedder closed it out for the Raiders with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.