Men's Basketball | 1/18/2025 10:49:00 PM

Box Score
ASHLAND, Ore. — Senior Andrew Vaughan led the Walla Walla Men's Basketball team with 25 points, but the Wolves lost to Southern Oregon 87-62 in a Cascade Conference game on Saturday at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

Vaughan converted on 9-of-17 attempts from the field and had four 3-pointers on the day. The senior added five rebounds, two steals and a block to his stat line.

Sophomore Soren Dalan was 7-of-10 from the free throw line and had 15 points for WWU. Kekoa Beard had six points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.

The Wolves had a better shooting percentage (42.6%) than the Raiders (41.9%) and outscored SOU inside the paint 22-20.

The loss dropped the Walla Walla record to 2-14 overall and 1-11 in CCC play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Vaughan got the scoring started with a 3-pointer just over two minutes into the game. The Raiders scored the next five points before Steele Twiford made a jump shot. Vaughan made another 3 to tie the game 8-8, and his third from beyond the arc to tie the game 11-11.

Southern Oregon scored 10 of the next 12 points before Dalan scored inside and Twiford connected on a jump shot. After a Raider basket it was Beard with a 3-pointer and Walla Walla trailed 23-20 with 6:42 left in the first half.

Dalan worked hard inside for a basket, Vaughan converted on a pair of free throws and Dalan added a point at the charity stripe. Chike Ezeonu got on the scoreboard with a layup, Beard made a free throw and Twiford added two points with a jumper to close out the WWU scoring in the first half. The Raiders took a 37-30 lead into the break.

It was all SOU early in the second half as the home team pushed the lead to 16 before Dalan ended the streak with a layup. Vaughan followed it up with his fourth 3-pointer. Dillon Wasser recorded his first points with a jumper and added to it two possessions later with a layup. Vaughan took a great pass from Dalan and turned it into two points to cut the Raider lead to nine, 52-43 with 13:46 left in the game.

The two teams went back and forth with Dalan scoring in the paint to cut the lead to six. The WWU center added a free throw with 9:44, but the Wolves went cold and did not score again for nearly four minutes. By the time Dalan was successful again at the free throw line it was a 17-point advantage for Southern Oregon. The Raiders pushed the lead to as much as 27, but Vaughan scored in the final minute to close out the scoring for both teams.

UP NEXT

The Wolves will start the second half of the CCC schedule with two games as the home team, but not at Windemuth Court. Walla Walla will host Northwest University at 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24 at Whitman College and then the Wolves will face Evergreen State at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Walla Walla Community College.