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Warrior comeback nips Raiders By Chris Miller Ashland Daily Tidings The only lead that matters is the last one. The Southern Oregon University men's basketball team led the Western Baptist squad for all but 3:37 of the second half, but a late 17-6 Western run gave the Warriors the Cascade Conference victory, 88-80, at McNeal Pavilion Tuesday night. The loss dropped the Raiders to 2-4 in the conference and 6-12 overall. SOU built a lead of 10 points with 14:42 left in the second half that dwindled to seven with 6:24 to play. After some back-and-forth scores, Western cut the lead to one off a Ben Morris jumper with 4:08 remaining. Then the Warriors' Marty Reid scored two of his 26 points off a driving layup to give the visitors their first lead of the second half, 75-76. SOU never recovered. "We made the key plays down the stretch and that was the difference," said a jubilant Reid after the game's final buzzer. "SOU did a really good job on the pick and roll, but I could break my man down one-on-one." The Raiders had their chances, but two turnovers and two missed shots cost them the game. "The unforced turnovers, that didn't need to happen," said a disappointed Raiders' coach Brian McDermott. "That was just us going out of our stuff too soon." Even though the Raiders held the advantage in rebounds, 44-33, they shot a dismal 34.3 percent from the floor and only 1-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half. They ended the game with a 39.4 field goal percentage, to Western's 50.8. "We had a lot of good looks and we have to knock them down," McDermott said. "We have to shoot better against what is a pretty average defensive team. If we had shot the ball better we could have had a lead of 13 to 16 points, but you can't shoot 39 percent all year." Although Western's center Eric Fiegi led all scores with 29 points on 12-for-21 shooting, he gave credit to the Raiders, who had the misfortune of guarding him. "They were definitely the most physical I have played against all season," Fiegi said. The start of the second half had the 550 Raider fans thinking blowout. With less than a minute expired, the Raiders' high-flying Travis Elam scored two of his 13 points on an alley-oop dunk from T.J. Caughell for the 43-35 lead. But only about 50 fans stuck around for the final buzzer, as the game ended prematurely when Reid hit a tough shot falling to his left, then released the right-handed jumper with 16.0 seconds to go. "I like pulling up going to my left," Reid said, "but most people in the conference already know that." The Raiders did own the advantage at the free-throw line, hitting 26 of 30 for 86.7 percent to Western's 18-25. "Most nights there's not a lot of difference between winning and losing," McDermott said. The Raiders travel to Albertson College Friday, then to Eastern Oregon University Saturday to complete the weekend road trip. Women's Basketball The Southern Oregon University women's basketball team captured its 10th consecutive win over a Cascade Conference foe by downing Western Baptist, 88-76, at McNeal Pavilion on Tuesday. Senior all-star guard Sara Marks exploded for season highs of 28 points and 10 assists to help the Raiders (9-7) extend their best-ever conference start to 6-0. The Utah native made 11 of 24 shots and 3 of 4 3-point attempts, including two late in the second half, that helped keep the Warriors (7-9, 3-3 Cascade) at bay. Senior all-star forward Kara Magee-Arick (15 points, 11 rebounds) and senior center Ashley Nunley (16 points, 10 rebounds) also collected double-doubles for SOU, which won its fourth straight at home. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -