Raiders hand EOU 7th straight loss in Ashland, 84-71
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Southern Oregon didn't score any style points on Saturday night, but the 13th-ranked Raiders were good enough to win their eighth consecutive Cascade Conference opener and hand Eastern Oregon its seventh straight loss in Ashland, 84-71, at Mountain Avenue Gym.
Senior guard Ben DeSaulnier poured in 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Freshman post Josh Washington went 8-of-10 with 19 points, nine rebounds and a few dunks off the bench, and Tate Hoffman added 14 points and seven boards to highlight an otherwise ugly night offensively that included 18 turnovers.
The Raiders improved to 6-3 going into Sunday's critical 6 p.m. clash against No. 7 College of Idaho.
In giving the Mountaineers (8-1) their first loss of the season, they went on a 12-4 run sparked by seven DeSaulnier points to take a 40-33 lead into halftime and never trailed in the second half.
Despite the turnovers, SOU shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field for the fifth time this year. DeSaulnier and Hoffman hit two 3-pointers apiece to account for half the team's 3-point total and Tristen Holmes had five of the Raiders' 18 assists to go with nine points.
Blake O'Donnell led five Mountaineers in double figures with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting off the bench. Sophomore guard Max McCullough had 14 points and 10 assists, but he and freshman Jordan May – who were averaging a combined 37 points on 57-percent shooting coming into the night – struggled throughout a 10-of-30 night from the field.
After SOU's Conor Carroll opened the second half with a 3-pointer, EOU didn't closer than seven points the rest of the way.