NU's Ryan Dornik grabs a loose balls and heads down court.
Strong Second Half Propels Southern Oregon Over Northwest
KIRKLAND, Wash. – No. 24 Southern Oregon put together a 54 point second half to overcome a halftime deficit and defeat Northwest University, 80-73, tonight in CCC play. Eric Thompson, David Sturner and Taylor Roos combined for 44 of the Raiders’ points.
Sturner, held to 2 points in the first half, scored 13 points in the second period and Thompson scored 10 of his 19 in the second period to help the Raiders to their 19
th win of the season against 8 defeats and improve to 10-5 in CCC play.
Southern Oregon went on a 6-0 run after tying the game at 11-all to lead 17-11, ten minutes into the first half. SOU would lead until the 2:44 mark when Northwest’s Brett Skogstad would hit a 3 point jumper to give the Eagles a 26-24 lead. Jeff Bush would hit a jumper to tie the game at 26-all with 2:17 remaining, but a 7-0 run by Northwest including a Ryan Dornik layup, a trey by Michael Russo and a short jumper by Skogstad would give NU the 33-26 lead as the buzzer sounded to end the half.
Northwest would hold onto a slim lead for the first six and a half minutes, But SOU’s Jordan West would get to the rim for a layup to knot the score at 46 with 13:01 to go. The game would then go back and forth for the next 7 minutes with four ties and three lead changes. Brett Skogstad would hit a crucial 3 pointer to give Northwest a 63-59 lead at the 6:31 mark and the Eagles would maintain the lead for 3 minutes, but Tim Weber’s 3 pointer with 3:01 on the clock would put SOU into the lead for good 69-68 as they would out score NU 11-5 for the win.
Northwest U. (19-9, 9-7 CCC) was led by sophomore Michael Russo’s 21 points. Ryan Dornik added 16 points on 50% shooting, Nemanja Grujicic added 13 points and Michael Greene finished with a double-double, 12 points and 12 rebounds. NU shot 38%, but managed only 55% from the free throw line (10-18).
Southern Oregon (19-8, 10-5 CCC) was led by Eric Thompson’s 19 points and 7 rebounds while David Sturner registered a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Taylor Roos added 10 points as the Raiders hit 56% of their shots (26-47) and 79% of their free throws going 22 for 28 from the charity stripe. SOU also edged NU in rebounds with a 36-35 margin.
Said John Van Dyke after the game, "Our guys played hard, gave it their all and this loss really hurts. We have to regroup and prepare for Oregon Tech tomorrow night. It's the good and bad of being a member of a tough conference."
The teams continue conference play tomorrow night as Northwest U. hosts Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon takes on Evergreen in Olympia. Both games are 7:30 p.m. tip offs.