Coach Brian McDermott gives instructions to his team in the closing seconds of the Raiders' win at Evergreen.
Raiders Ice Evergreen at the Foul Line
OLYMPIA - Ben DeSaulnier made eight free throws in the final 1:03 as Southern Oregon held off host Evergreen, 93-85, in a Cascade Collegiate Conference men's basketball game played Saturday night in Costantino Recreation Center.
The Raiders (14-8 overall, 8-4 CCC) broke away from a 39-39 deadlock with a 14-4 run in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half and iced the game at the foul line against the Geoducks (5-14, 2-11).
Tristen Holmes was 9-for-10 from the field for a game-high 22 points and added seven assists to lead the Raiders, who also got 18 points apiece from DeSaulnier and Kenny Meyer and 15 points from Tate Hoffman.
Jonathan Jack-Nixon had his second outstanding game against the Raiders this season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs for the the Geoducks. Earlier this season, the senior guard scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in an Evergreen loss at Southern Oregon.
There was little to separate the two teams through the opening 20 minutes, the Geoducks shooting 48 percent and the Raiders 46 percent, and both teams recording four turnovers and four blocks. The Geoducks had a slight 20-18 rebounding edge at the half.
It was in the opening minutes of the second period that Southern Oregon built the lead that it milked through to the final buzzer.
The trio of Holmes, Meyer and DeSaulnier combined to score 40 of Southern Oregon's 54 second half points, with Meyer knocking down all of three-point tries. In fact, Meyer came up with back-to-back three-point daggers to increase what had been a 72-64 advantage to 78-64 with 4:57 remaining. Prior to that, the Geoducks had two chances to cut the lead to four points but were unable to do so. And then it was up to DeSaulnier, an all-conference performer, to hit eight consecutive charity tosses to finish off the Geoducks.
Southern Oregon shot 51 percent overall and 88 percent (14-for-16) from the foul line. It also won the rebound battle, 38-37, led by Hoffman and DeSaulnier with eight apiece.
Joining Nixon in double figures for Evergreen were Dustin Meade with 16, Ryan Quigley with 14 and Taylor Drey with 13. Jarrick Mitchell dished out seven assists and Drey added six more.
The Geoducks were 37-for-74 from the field for 50 percent but just 6-for-11 at the foul line.
Evergreen returns to action next Friday when it plays Eastern Oregon in La Grande, Ore.