Document text
Raiders upset fourth-ranked OIT By TED BURNHAM for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND - Just when you thought the Southern Oregon men's basketball team couldn't buy a victory, the Raiders hit seven free throws and held off a charging Oregon Tech in the final minutes to win, 61-54, Saturday night at McNeal Pavilion. With 2 minutes, 2 seconds remaining on the game clock, SOU center Jeff Tacheny scored the game-tying basket, drew the foul and drained the extra point to put SOU up, 55-54. The Raiders' defense held OIT scoreless for the remainder of the game, as the Owls' highest scorers fouled out and Tacheny, T.J. Caughell and Moses Olson all hit free throws to assure the victory. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for SOU (5-10 overall, 1-4 Cascade Conference), the longest since the 1999-2000 season. The Owls, ranked No. 4 nationally, dropped to 13-4 and 4-2 in conference play. "This was huge," said Tacheny, who led all-scorers with a career-high 23 points. "But it's always like this. It is always close. In the two years I have been here, this is the first time we have beat them." Raiders head coach Brian McDermott said it was the SOU defense that saved the day. "We had horrible numbers," he said. "The reason we won is our defense." Indeed, SOU shot 41 percent from inside the 3-point line, hit just three of 16 3-point attempts and shot 61 percent from the line. The Owls were worse from the floor, hitting just 36 percent from inside the 3-point line. OIT head coach Dan Miles called the contest "a defensive battle all night." Owls forward LaMont Swinson said it was the OIT offense that failed. "It was our offense that had problems, it wasn't our defense," said Swinson, who had 10 points and was all-Cascade a year ago. "You don't win a ballgame when you score 50 points." Tacheny scored 10 points to help SOU pull out to a 19-5 lead nine minutes into the contest. The Owls then went on a 20-6 run to tie the game, 25-25, at halftime. OIT center Alassane Bakayoko, who hails from the Ivory Coast, had 10 points and four rebounds in the first half. The 6-foot-7 sophomore led OIT with 16 points. OIT jumped out to a 32-27 lead three minutes into the second half, thanks to scoring by Michael Nunes and Bakayoko. A Raider basket by Moses Olson tied the game, 34-34, seven minutes into the half. The Owls and Raiders exchanged leads three times before Olson hit a 3-pointer to put SOU up, 44-40, with eight minutes remaining. Back-to-back buckets by Swinson tied the game a minute later. SOU battled back and led for the next four minutes, but never by more than three points. Junior guard Chris Johnson hit a 3-pointer for the Owls to tie the game at 52-52 with 2:55 remaining. Bakayoko was fouled seconds later and hit two free throws to put OIT up, but it would be OIT's final score. Tacheny scored and drew the foul with 2:02 remaining, and SOU held off the Owls for the victory. McDermott said most Raiders' games have been close, but this win was crucial. "We have been playing like that for a month, we just haven't won," he said. "The difference is we played with so much heart tonight. "Neither team is ever out of this one. Even when we were ahead 19-5, I knew it would still be a very tight game." OREGON TECH (13-5) Bakayoko 6-10 4-5 16, Swinson 5-12 1-2 10, Matthews 4-11 1-1 8, Nunes 1-8 4-6 6, M. Johnson 1-3 1-1 6, Mitrovic 2-5 1-2 5, C. Johnson 4-8 0-0 3, Houget 0-9 0-0 0, Baker 0-5 0-0 0, Carlson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 23-75 12-17 54. SOUTHERN OREGON (5-10) Tacheny 9-17 5-7 23, Olson 3-10 2-2 7, Caughell 1-4 5-6 7, Zosel 3-5 0-6 6, Barnes 4-13 0-0 6, Knudsen 2-6 0-0 4, Sorenson 1-3 0-0 2, Coen 0-4 0-0 0, Rodriguez 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 25-69 14-23 61. Halftime - SOU 25, OIT 25. 3-Point goals _ Oregon Tech 4-22 (Chris Johnson 2-4, Matthews 1-4, Swinson 1-3, Nunes 0-3, Houget 0-3, Carlson 0-2, Baker 0-2); SOU 3-16 (Barnes 2-6, Olson 1-4, Knudson 0-2, Coen 0-1, Zosel 0-1, Caughell 0-1, Rodriguez 0-1). Fouled out - Swinson, Bakayoko. Rebounds - OIT 33, SOU 39. Total fouls - OIT 23, SOU 17. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.