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SOU pulls out 114-104 OT win over Eastern in bucket-heavy battle
Jordan West, left, scored a career-high 27 points.

SOU pulls out 114-104 OT win over Eastern in bucket-heavy battle

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ASHLAND – On a night when seemingly no one could get a defensive stop between the Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon men's basketball teams, Raider forward Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) was the unlikely player who couldn't buy a bucket Friday night at Riehm Arena.

His luck changed in a hurry in overtime, though. That's where he scored 14 of his 25 points, including nine straight, to lift 16th-ranked SOU to a 114-104 win over the Mountaineers.

Tim Weber (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) and Jordan West (Gymea Bay, Australia/Port Hacking) picked up the slack until Thompson got hot. Weber, who just missed his third triple-double of the season by one rebound last Saturday at California Merced, didn't miss this time with 25 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. West, a 6-foot-8 forward, scored a career-high 27 points on 12-for-15 accuracy, while Joel Spear (Adelaide, Australia/St. Michaels) went 8-for-10 with 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

That's what it took to overcome De'Sean Mattox, who scored 42 points for the Mountaineers (9-3, 1-2). Mattox, who came in averaging 31.3 points in his previous three games, went 6-for-13 from outside and 18-for-22 from the line. When SOU led 71-63 with 9:19 left, Mattox scored 10 of Eastern's next 12 points (including eight at the line) to tie it.

When the Mountaineers got the ball trailing 78-77 with 5:52 left, the teams started a run in which they combined to score on 10 straight possessions. Mattox made three straight jumpers for EOU, including an off-the-dribble triple that gave his team a 91-87 advantage at the 2:08 mark.

Thompson came back with a basket inside on the other end, and Weber tied it at 91-all after the Raiders finally ended the madness with a stop. Two McGriff free throws put the Mountaineers up with 59 seconds to play, but Weber spun in the post and scooped to a bucket for the game-tying shot on the next possession, making it 93-93.

In overtime, Thompson scored four straight for a 102-98 SOU lead that was trimmed to one when Austin Strock nailed a 3-pointer. McGriff's block on the other end led to an Eastern fast break, but Mattox had his layup blocked and was immediately hit with a technical foul. Thompson made one of the ensuing free throws and then a 3-pointer for a five-point lead. His triple with 53 seconds left made it 110-101.

The Raiders have won four straight in the series against the Mountaineers, who got 17 points from Strock off the bench.

SOU, which shot 58 percent as a team (44-for-76), plays at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against College of Idaho, which was a 77-74 upset victim Friday at Oregon Tech.

Ben DeSaulnier (Philomath, Ore./Philomath) had 11 points off the bench for the Raiders, who have needed overtime for both of their conference wins. West went 8-for-10 in the first half, when the teams battled to a 41-all tie.

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