Raiders top Evergreen for 6th straight home win

1/20/2018 9:38:00 PM

SOU Sports Information

ASHLAND – Southern Oregon's quest to string together 40 quality minutes is still ongoing, but the 23rd-ranked Raiders were good enough down the stretch to eke out a 74-68 win against The Evergreen State (Wash.) on Saturday night at Mountain Avenue Gym.

Sophomore forward Jordan Hunt scored all 16 of his points in the second half and senior guard Ben DeSaulnier poured in 11 of his 16 after the break to go with seven assists, helping SOU improve to 12-7 overall and 7-3 in the Cascade Conference.

The Raiders were unable to solve Evergreen's zone defense early and trailed 28-19 at the five-minute mark in the first half, but they took an 8-0 run into the locker room and shot 60 percent (18-of-30) during the second half in their sixth consecutive home victory.

Tristen Holmes went 5-of-8 with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Kenny Meyer scored all nine of his points before halftime and Tate Hoffman chipped in eight, and both had three assists. As a team, the Raiders assisted 22 of their 28 buckets and turned the ball over just seven times.

Evergreen (4-17, 3-9) stayed in the game behind Pat Ling's 22 points, 18 of which he scored after halftime on 8-of-13 accuracy.

The second half featured nine lead changes, the last when Aaron Borich gathered Meyer's pass and stepped into a transition 3 to make it 42-40 with 13:29 to go. It was a six-point game with seven minutes left until Hunt made back-to-back triples and Desaulnier converted a three-point play, giving the Raiders their largest lead at 61-50.

SOU shot at a 48-percent clip overall from the field and Evergreen settled in at 44.

Jaurence Chisolm contributed 14 points and six boards for the Geoducks, who have lost their last 14 matchups with the Raiders.

SOU hosts Northwest (Wash.) at 6 p.m. Sunday.