Southern Oregon's Eric Thompson led all scorers with 13 points, as the NAIA's No. 16-ranked Raiders never relinquished the lead in a CCC victory over Corban.
No. 16-Ranked Southern Oregon Earns Wire-to-Wire Win Over Corban
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – The NAIA's No. 16-ranked Raiders of Southern Oregon would score the opening basket before en route to earning a wire-to-wire win over Corban, 71-45, in Cascade Collegiate Conference action Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
With tonight's result, Southern Oregon improves to 8-3 overall and remains unbeaten at 2-0 after the opening weekend of league play. Meanwhile, Corban falls to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play.
Southern Oregon was led offensively by CCC Preseason Player of the Year Eric Thompson with 13 points, while Salem-native Taylor Roos added 10 points off the bench. Terriel Thomas pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for SOU, while Jeff Bush handed out a game-high four assists to go along with a game-high tying two blocked shots by David Sturner.
Southern Oregon would score the game's opening basket and never relinquished the lead, as the visiting Raiders quickly jumped out to a seven-point lead (9-2) on a fast break lay-in by Dax Daum with 15:06 on the clock. Corban would pull within a single points (9-8) thanks to a 6-0 run over a span of three minutes with Andrew Evans hitting a fast break lay-in at the 12:08 mark. Following Evans' steal and lay-in, Southern Oregon would use a 7-0 run to pull ahead by eight points (16-8) with the host Warriors getting to as close as five points (18-13) on a three-pointer by Jacob Kopra with 7:21 on the clock. The nationally-ranked Raiders would push their lead to as much as 12 points (27-15) on a fast break lay-in by Sturner with just over three minutes left before Corban closed out the half on an 8-2 run to get within six points (29-23) at intermission.
The second half would see Southern Oregon quickly earn a double-digit lead (33-23) scoring the first four points, as the visiting Raiders would slowly extend its lead to a game-high 29 points (68-39) on an old-fashion three-point play by Joel Spear with 3:11 on the clock. Corban would hit four-of-five free throws down the stretch, as the Warriors settled for the final deficit of 26 points (71-45).
Corban's duo of Jacob Kopra and Kent Foster led the Warriors with 10 points each, while Dustin Moore and Evans added five points each with Cyrus Ward chipping in with four points off the bench. On the boards, Marcus Butler and Josiah Sebens pulled down a team-high five rebounds each to go along with a pair of assists by Moore and Sebens.
As a team, Southern Oregon was 30-for-62 (48.4%) from the field that included an 18-for-33 (54.5%) performance in the second half. The Raiders were also 5-of-18 (27.8%) from long distance and 6-of-9 (66.7%) at the charity stripe. On the other hand, Corban combined to shoot 17-for-67 (25.4%) from the field that included a 4-for-27 (14.8%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 7-for-9 (77.8%) performance at the free throw line.
Corban will return to action on Wednesday, December 5th, in an exhibition game versus the Australian Stars beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem. Meanwhile, Southern Oregon will return to the hardwood on Saturday, December 8th, against California Pacific Conference member Simpson beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Redding, California.