ASHLAND – The 21st-ranked Southern Oregon men’s basketball team clinched its first Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament home game since 2006 with a thorough 77-60 victory over Corban Friday night at Bob Riehm Arena.
Southern Oregon improves to 21-8 overall and 12-5 in conference play, while Corban falls to 9-17 overall and 5-12 in the CCC. Both teams return to action Saturday, with SOU hosting Northwest Christian on Senior Night and Corban taking on Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls.
With one game remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Raiders are currently in the third spot for the CCC Tournament. They will host either Northwest or Concordia in a first-round contest on Wednesday at 7 p.m., with the final matchup still to be determined by the final slate of games on Saturday.
After missing six of its first seven shots, Southern Oregon caught fire on offense to finish the game with a 55.4 percent shooting mark (31-of-56), including 43.5 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-23). Meanwhile, the Raider defense limited Corban to only 36.1 percent shooting (22-of-61) and outrebounded the Warriors 40-to-31 in the game. Both teams protected the ball well in the game, with SOU turning it over eight times and Corban tallying only three giveaways.
Kyle Tedder led SOU with 15 points, while David Sturner posted an efficient 14 on 6-of-8 shooting that included two makes from long range. Sturner earned a double-double with 13 rebounds and added three assists and three blocks in the win. Eric Thompson also finished with 14 points and Jeff Bush added 13 points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists, missing only one of his seven shot attempts in the game. Andrew Evans led Corban with 16 points, while Josiah Sebens tallied 12 and Dustin Moore added 10.
The game started slowly as the teams combined to make only two of their first 13 shots, but Southern Oregon claimed a nine-point lead midway through the first half when a layup by Bush made it 14-5. Evans responded with three consecutive jumpers – including one three-pointer – to pull Corban to 14-12, but the Raiders scored the next seven points to push the lead right back to nine. Southern Oregon would go on to hold that nine point advantage at the end of the period, leading 39-30 at the halftime break.
Early in the second half Southern Oregon stretched its lead to double-digits, with Sturner giving SOU a 55-41 advantage with 13:32 to play. Corban scored the next four points, but a few minutes later the Raiders used a nine-point run to push their lead to 19, and the hosts coasted from there to the 17-point victory and season sweep of the Warriors