Portland, Ore. | KJ Bosco scored a game-high and WPU career-high 35 points in the Knights' 92-100 loss to No. 18 Southern Oregon on Friday night. Bosco sunk 13 of 14 free throws.
The Knights came out firing on all cylinders, running to a quick 17-5 lead and forcing an SOU timeout at just the 14:57 mark. Of those 17 points, Bosco had 13. The Senior finished with 35 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.
Out of the timeout, the Raiders were able to find their offensive rhythm, chipping away at the Warner Pac lead, which had grown to 14 at one point. Southern Oregon then went on a 13-0 run to cut the lead to 1 with 9:12 remaining in the first half. At the 12:58 mark of the first half, the Knights led by 14. SOU then sunk nine of their 15 threes, taking what was a 14-point deficit and turning it into a 16-point lead. At the break, the tale had flipped, and the Knights trailed by 13.
The Raiders came out of the locker room still hot, firing a 3 right off the bat, extending the lead and ultimately reaching the games largest lead of 17 with 12 minutes left to play. The Knights, with the help of a 5-point run and spark off the bench by Junior Stephon Shaw, continued fighting, seeming to find the bottom of the net to quiet an SOU run and cut the lead to eight with 3:41 remaining. Coming down to a game of free-throws, the Knights had come within five, but the Raiders went on to make all nine of their under three-minute free throws. Despite the best effort by
Jared Valentine's crew, the Raiders broke a Warner Pac five game home win streak.
The Knights took care of the ball, turning it over just nine times.
JD Esters scored 22 points and dished out 5 assists and Stephon Shaw scored 16 points off the bench, including 3 24-footers.
Southern Oregon was led by Aaron Borich's 25 points. Tate Hoffman finished with 22 and Tez Allen finished with 12 and 12.
The Knights will host the No. 2 team in the nation on Saturday night, the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech. Tip-off is set for 7:30pm, respectively.