PORTLAND, Ore.—In a key battle for conference playoff positioning, Southern Oregon held the Concordia men’s basketball team to a season-low field goal percentage in a 68-61 win for the Raiders on Saturday.

Southern Oregon (15-9, 8-5 CCC) held Concordia (13-10, 5-7 CCC) to under 40 percent shooting from the field, the first Cavalier opponent to do so this season. The Cavs ended the game shooting just 35.8 percent and made only 5-of-17 three-pointers.

Meanwhile, the Raiders used a strong start offensively to seize a lead early that they would not relinquish for the entire night. The Raiders made seven of their first eight shots on Saturday, running out to a 19-5 lead with just over five minutes off the clock.

For the Cavs, freshman Anthony Holton tried his best to keep his team in range of the Raiders, as the point guard scored 15 of the team’s 29 points in the first half.

In spite of Holton’s play, though, the Raiders easily maintained their double-digit lead until a Cavalier run in the middle of the second half cut it back down to five at 58-53 with 7:04 to go. The Cavs outscored the Raiders 9-2 in the run with CU’s Kevan West breaking out of an earlier funk to score six of the nine CU points.

However, the SOU defense took over from there, holding the Cavs without a field goal for the next six and a half minutes and squashing Concordia’s comeback hopes in the process. In the end, the Cavs would only get one field goal after the 7:04 mark—a three-pointer from CU’s Drew Preuninger with 26 seconds left.

In the meantime, the Raiders’ offense struggled too, as they only scored two field goals after the 7:04 mark. Unfortunately for the Cavs, one of those included a crushing three-pointer from the Raiders’ Kyle Tedder that came right after Concordia had cut the lead to five. Eric Thompson then followed with four straight points with under a minute left to push the SOU lead back up to nine.

While Preuninger’s late three and a couple free throws from Adam Herman would bring the Cavs back within two possessions after that, SOU made enough plays at the end to close out the victory.

Statistically, SOU ended the night with a .520-to-.358 shooting advantage. The SOU defense also prevented any easy shots for the Cavs, as the Raiders held Concordia to just six assists on 19 field goals. In addition, the Raiders topped the Cavs 26-14 in points in the paint, a statistic the Cavs normally compare well in.

The night did not go without some statistical victories for the Cavs, however, with the team grabbing a 36-26 rebounding advantage, including a 12-4 advantage in offensive boards. Also on the bright side, Concordia shot a season-best 81.8 percent from the free throw line, making 18-of-22 shots.

Individually, Thompson led all scorers with 26 points off 11-of-16 shooting from the field, while Jordan Highland and Jeff Bush came in next on the team with nine points each. Thompson also tied teammate Terriel Thompson as well as CU’s Herman and Preuninger with a game-high seven rebounds. Finally, Bush added a game-high three steals on the night.

For the Cavs, Holton led the way with 22 points, setting a career-high for the second straight game. Preuninger followed Holton with 17, making all five of Concordia’s three-pointers in the game, while Herman ended with 13.

Next up, SOU travels to face rival Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls, Ore. on Saturday, Feb. 4. The Cavs, meanwhile, will face Northwest and Evergreen State on the road on Feb. 3 and 4, respectively. All three games will begin at 7:30 p.m.