McDermott hits 500-win milestone as SOU beats No. 15 Vanguard
SOU Sports Information
FULLERTON, Calif. – The Southern Oregon University men's basketball team gifted coach
Brian McDermott his 500th career victory with an upset on Saturday, defeating 15th-ranked Vanguard (Calif.) 75-71 at the Hope International Classic inside Darling Pavilion.
Tate Hoffman scored 20 points and Aaron Borich recorded 13 points, six rebounds and four assists as the catalysts of the milestone win, which boosted the 18th-ranked Raiders to 4-2.
McDermott became the fifth active coach at the NAIA Division II level to hit 500. He collected the first 117 of his career at Dakota State (S.D.) and has gone 383-343 since taking over at SOU in 1996, including a mark of 160-74 over the last eight seasons.
McDermott, the longest-tenured coach in the Cascade Conference, is the first coach in Raider history with 500 cumulative wins. He broke the coaching record for wins at SOU, previously held by Ted Schopf (241-227), during the 2012-13 season.
After falling in overtime against unbeaten Hope International on Friday, the Raiders fell behind 12-4 against the Lions but quickly reversed course with 21-2 run and went into halftime up 10.
Vanguard chipped away to pull even with the Raiders, 54-54, with nine minutes to play before a Borich 3-pointer put the Raiders in front for good.
Leading 62-61, Tez Allen found Hoffman for a layup on a baseline out-of-bounds play to start a 7-0 spurt, completed by another Hoffman bucket with 3:20 left. Conor Carroll's perfect trip to the free-throw line with eight seconds remaining put the game away.
Allen went for 10 points, five assists and four steals for the Raiders, who shot 46 percent overall (28-of-61) to overcome a 5-of-25 outing from 3-point range.
Hoffman went 8-of-18, Borich hit 3-of-7 from downtown and Carroll totaled nine points. Hunter Bradford, Jayson McMillan and Josh Washington all scored six with three buckets apiece off the bench, combining to shoot 9-of-13.
Aziz Seck led four Lions in double figures with 14 points.
McDermott also earned his 400th win in upset fashion with a 77-74 defeat of second-ranked College of Idaho on Dec. 20, 2014.
The Raiders will debut at home on Tuesday, tipping off at 7:30 p.m. against Maine-Fort Kent.