Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
Raiders take 109-106 shootout from Oregon Tech
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Offensive fireworks went off in No. 11 Southern Oregon's 109-106 win over No. 16 Oregon Tech on Tuesday night at Mountain Avenue Gym, a non-conference shootout that saw 50 points from two all-star point guards and the highest combined point total between the teams since 1991.
Tristen Holmes scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half, shooting 10-of-15 from the field while adding six assists and five rebounds, and the Raiders hung on to overcome Mitchell Fink's 24-point, 10-assist effort on a night that featured 13 ties and 13 lead changes.
Fink, OIT's sophomore floor general, missed a contested, leaning 27-footer as time expired, but the rivals didn't miss much else in their first top-25 matchup in four years.
SOU shot 61 percent from the field (38-of-62), including 13-of-23 from 3-point range, and OIT finished at 56 percent (40-of-71) with 11 makes from downtown.
Raider wing Ben DeSaulnier recorded 22 points, six assists and three steals, Tate Hoffman had 15 points and five boards, and Kenny Meyer added 14 points, six assists and three steals to help SOU improve to 2-1.
The Owls (3-3) put six players in double figures – Tyler Hieb (15 points), Andrew Weber (14 points, 7 rebounds), Zach Bernards (13 points), Jalen Carvalo (12) and Seth Erickson (12) joined Hieb – and turned a five-point halftime deficit into a 66-60 lead with 16:45 left to play. It stood as their largest advantage, as SOU answered with six straight points and the teams went blow-for-blow from there.
SOU went up for good on DeSaulnier's 3 that made it 92-90 with 6:03 left. Leading 98-97, Conor Carroll dished from inside the paint to Aaron Borich for a 3-pointer with 1:46 left, and following a defensive stop Holmes knocked down a jumper at the end of the shot clock to extend the lead to six.
The Raiders' shooting percentage was their highest in 55 games dating back to Dec. 6, 2015.
SOU has won six of its last seven games at home against the Owls. This one was the closest between the teams in Ashland since the 2009-10 season.