Box Score

Fresno Pacific played a suffocating zone defense on Friday night, holding Oregon Tech to 25.8 percent from the field and going on to win 70-62  in the first game of the Southern Oregon Invitational.

Jordan Wild posted a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Sunbirds (4-2) withstood a barrage of three-pointers by the Owls (6-2), who made 12 in the game.

Matt Christman had a great shooting night, finishing with 13 points, and Casper Hesseldal added 10 points and nine rebounds in the win.

FPU led for most of the game, but was unable to break away as the Owls seemed to shoot a three-pointer every time down the court. Oregon Tech took 37 threes in the game and actually shot better from long-range than they did from the field.

The Sunbirds took an eight-point lead, their largest of the second half, with 8:27 remaining after an Adam Kado three-point play. The Owls trimmed the lead back to two at 56-54 with just over five minutes to play, before Wild scored four consecutive points.

The Owls would cut the lead to 66-62 with 1:19 remaining on a three-pointer, but FPU refused to allow Oregon Tech any more good looks in the final possessions. Deshaun Legree and Christman calmly sank free-throws in the closing seconds to put the win away for good.

The Sunbirds didn't allow the Owls to score for the first five minutes and 45 seconds ofy the game, but could only build up a 3-0 lead in that span. When the Owls finally did score, they went on a 14-0 run to go ahead 14-3.

The Owls still led by 11 with ten minutes remaining in the half, but Wild and Kenny Bradford would help FPU close the half on an 18-8 run to lead 30-27 at the break.

The Sunbirds outscored the Owls an astounding 36-6 in the paint. Joseph Foster was the player of the night for the Owls, scoring a game-high 28 points. Kyle Gomez added 11 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.

FPU moves on to face the host school, Southern Oregon at 7:30 pm tomorrow. The game will be broadcast live once again on www.souraiders.com.