David Sturner posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds
Raider Men Hold Off Evergreen 77-70
BOX SCORE
ASHLAND – The 14th-ranked Southern Oregon men’s basketball team took a 15-point lead into halftime and held off a late second-half run by Evergreen to defeat the Geoducks 77-70 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action Friday night at Bob Riehm Arena.
Southern Oregon improves to 15-4 overall and 7-1 in conference play, while Evergreen falls to 2-14 overall and 1-7 in the CCC. Both teams return to action Saturday, with the Raiders hosting No. 22 Northwest and the Geoducks heading to Klamath Falls to take on Oregon Tech at 7:30 p.m.
Eric Thompson scored a game-high 18 points and David Sturner tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Tedder made four three-pointers to total 14 points and Dex Daum finished with 13 in the win.
Southern Oregon shot nearly 50 percent in the game (27-of-55) while limiting Evergreen to 41.9 percent shooting (26-of-62), while the Geoducks outrebounded the Raiders 37-34. Frankie Johnson led Evergreen with 16 points, while Marc Taylor finished with 12 and Cody Peters and Elzie Dickens each tallied 10 points.
A close game for the first 11 minutes gave way to a 21-6 Southern Oregon run in the final nine minutes of the first period. The run gave the Raiders a 44-29 halftime advantage, with SOU stretching its advantage to 18 points early in the second half.
Evergreen came on in the second half, outscoring SOU 41-33 in the period while forcing 12 turnovers. A three-pointer by Johnson sparked the Geoducks’ comeback attempt as Evergreen worked its way back into the contest.
A layup by Johnson with 8:44 to play pulled Evergreen within single digits for the first time in the second period, and a few minutes later another Johnson three made it 69-63 SOU. The Geoducks got as close as five points back with 2:44 remaining, but the Raiders made seven of their eight free throw attempts down the stretch to stave off the comeback attempt and cement the 77-70 victory.