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SOU men come up short in comeback attempt By Chris Miller Ashland Daily Tidings A weekend to forget. For the second straight night the Southern Oregon University men's basketball team dug themselves too deep of a halftime hole, falling to the Evergreen State Geoducks 98-95 in a Cascade Conference tilt at McNeal Pavilion Saturday night. The Raiders found themselves down 54-33 at the break thanks mostly to their ice cold 37-percent shooting, including just 14 percent (1-for-7) from behind the 3-point arc. But just as they did Friday night, the Raiders (7-15 overall, 3-7 CCC) didn't quit. They cut the Geoduck's (12-13, 6-5) lead to nine points with 12:35 left in the second half on a Ryan Gabel lay-up off the feed from T.J. Caughell. With 1:24 remaining, the Raiders found themselves down by only two possessions, 92-86, after Caughell dished to Jared Abel for one of his two 3-pointers. Gabel hit his second 3 with 35 seconds remaining that brought down the house. Then, as if scripted in Hollywood, SOU's leading scorer Zac Olson drove hard to the basket and was miraculously fouled on his right-handed, floating shot, and was sent to the line with 15 seconds left - able to tie the game with a free throw. But Olson missed, leaving the Raiders down 96-95. "I personally just ran out of gas," a stoic Olson said after the game. The game wasn't over. Caughell fouled the game's leading scorer, Mike Parker (36 points), with 14 ticks on the clock, but Parker made only one of his two free tosses, leaving the door wide open for SOU. The Raiders advanced the ball to the frontcourt and got the ball into the hands of Olson, who fired the trey. Time seemed to stop on the court as both home and visitors alike watched the ball go toward the rim. Olson stood watching, like he was sure the ball would go in, and it did - nearly. The ball hit every conceivable part of the basket, but it missed hitting the only part - the bottom of the net. As the ball bounced harmlessly to the floor the team in green celebrated and a distraught Olson fell flat on his back in disbelief. "I though it was good," Olson said. "It felt good, it looked good, but you move on. We came back from 21 down and you can't really complain. You come back and nearly tie it up, you have got to be happy with what you did." The young Raider's sputtered on offense and had a difficult time containing Parker, who SOU head coach Brian McDermott calls one of the best players in the conference. Parker scored his game-high point total on 14-for-17 shooting and put his stamp on the first 20 minutes with one of his four steals. With less than six seconds remaining in the half, he went the length of the court for a resounding dunk as time expired. Parker also played well on the defensive end of the court with five blocks. "He's a good player, but we threw it to him a few times," McDermott said. "Parker effects the game more on the defensive end possibly more than he does on the offensive end, and he's a pretty � good player on the offensive side." Although both losses left the Raiders with a sour taste in their mouth, McDermott still believes his team will pull through in the end. "We'll get there, but young guys don't turn old for a year," he said. "We're going to take some bumps and bruises." SOU Women's Basketball The Raiders extended several lengthy streaks with a 90-45 blowout win over Evergreen State on Saturday night at McNeal Pavilion. The victory kept the red-hot Raider women (13-7) perfect through their first 10 league games and extended win streaks to eight straight overall, six at home and 14 over conference rivals dating back to last February. The Raiders were never seriously challenged by the last-place Geoducks (3-20, 0-11), and the 45-point win was the most lopsided home victory since a 66-point triumph over Warner Pacific in 2000. SOU senior guard Kelly Dexter scored 18 points on 7-for-7 shooting and senior guard Sara Marks added a game-high 21 points, six assists and six steals. AHS Swimming At Roseburg, the Roseburg boys and girls swim teams dominated against Ashland and Eagle Point in a Southern Oregon Conference swim meet on Saturday at the Roseburg YMCA. Roseburg's state champions senior Patrick O'Neil won both the 100-meter butterfly (53.53) and the 200 individual medley (1:58.58). Ashland's Arron Nelson won the 100 backstroke (1:04.40) and the 100 freestyle (51.15). In girls action, Ashland's Michelle Smith was a double winner, claiming both he 50 free (28.03) and the 100 free (1:00.78). AHS Snowboarding At Mount Ashland, behind first-place performances by Alex Krill and Hallie Beaver, the Grizzlies swept the boys and girls Southern League slopestyle competition Friday. The AHS boys finished with a meet-high 3,520 points, while the girls dominated with 3,710. "I was really pleased by the performance of Alex Krill," Grizz coach Matt Faurot said. "His backside 540 was by far the most exciting of the day." Krill, a senior, won the boys competition with a 27.5 run, while Beaver, a freshman, tied North Medford's Shannon Leever with a score of 19.5. Also for the Grizz boys, Asa Cates tied for second (24), Sam Scheer took third (22.5) and Morgan McKelvey and Jason Koland tied for sixth (18.5). The AHS girls finished with the five best scores. After Beaver's 19.5, Aurora Dolan took second with a 19, Stephanie Elliot was third with a score of 18, Anna Gordon-Norby earned fourth place with a score of 17.5 and Ella Street nabbed fifth place with a 15. According to Faurot, "(Beaver) stepped it up and wowed the crowd with a double suitcase grab off the first table top jump." 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