Dex Daum goes up for a layup over C of I's Jordan O'Byrne.
ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University men's basketball ran out of fight during the second overtime of Friday night's game against 14th-ranked College of Idaho at Bob Riehm Arena.
More specifically, the ninth-ranked Raiders ran out of buckets in a 109-100 loss to the first-place Coyotes.
The Raiders (17-5 overall, 6-4 Cascade Conference) overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to force the first overtime. They forced a second overtime when Kyle Tedder sunk a 26-footer with 1.4 seconds left. But it was there that they made just one shot in the first 3:40, making way for the Coyotes (17-5, 8-2) to start with a 9-1 run and cruise to the finish line.
"We were just soft at both ends of the floor in the first half – didn't cut hard, didn't rebound hard, didn't screen hard – but we played like you're supposed to play after that," SOU coach Brian McDermott said. "We had guys throwing up in the locker room at halftime and coming out and playing, giving us everything they had in the second half, but (the Coyotes) are a little deeper and that cost us."
Demetrius Perkins scored 19 – going 3-for-15 from the field but 12-for-14 from the line – and his 3-pointer with 3:55 left put C of I up for good. Josh Wilson was all over the place with 21 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals, and Taylor Pruett totaled 16 points and 13 boards.
The Coyotes went 33-for-47 from the free-throw line. SOU was 6-for-10.
David Sturner fueled SOU's comeback with 19 of his 23 points after halftime and also recorded game-highs of 12 rebounds and five blocks. Jeff Bush dished out a career-best 14 assists and Tim Weber finished with 13 points, eight boards, four blocks and three steals.
The Yotes went up 45-33 at halftime as Ben Van Lith tipped in Wilson's miss at the buzzer, but that's when the battle began. SOU started the second half on a 20-7 run to get back in it and finally tied it, 67-67, when Jordan West drilled a triple from the wing with 7:49 left.
Tim Weber's and-1 putback a minute later gave the Raiders their first lead in 22 minutes. From that point on, the lead would change hands eight more times.
Eric Thompson's free throws put SOU up 80-79 with 1:18 left in regulation and Perkins tied it by splitting a pair at the line eight seconds later. It proved to be the final point until overtime; Bush missed a 28-foot desperation 3 to tie at the buzzer.
SOU trailed 87-84 when Tedder was fouled shooting a 3 with six seconds left in the first overtime. He made two at the line, and, after Perkins made a pair at the other end, Tedder dribbled down the floor, pulled up and sunk the long one to send 1,027 fans into a frenzy.
That was the last time they got to celebrate. The Coyotes made nine of their final 10 at the line to seal the win.
Tedder scored 16 for the Raiders, going 4-for-8 from deep, while Thompson and Dex Daum added 15 apiece. Both Tedder and Weber fouled out as the Raiders were whistled for 29 fouls to C of I's 12.
Van Lith pitched in 14 points and eight rebounds for C of I, which went 33-for-84 from the field but committed just eight turnovers compared to SOU's 16.
"I think a couple of those were just tired turnovers," McDermott said, "but that got us."
The Raiders will have to regroup Saturday to host Eastern Oregon at 7:30 p.m. The Mountaineers lost Friday at Oregon Tech, 81-60.