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Fresno Pacific rallied in the second half, but it was Southern Oregon pulling away late to hand the Sunbirds their first loss of the season 96-89.

Eric Thompson scored 34 points to lead the Raiders (1-1), while Dex Daum added 23. George DeLeon was the Sunbirds' leading scorer with 23 points.

The NAIA's #25-ranked Sunbirds played well but ran into a well-disciplined Southern Oregon team that did a good job of passing the ball around FPU's zone defense and finding open shooters. The Raiders shot the lights out, particularly in the first half when they hit 10-of-15 from beyond the arc to take a 48-39 lead into the halftime break.

FPU came right out of the gate though and opened up the second half on a 14-0 run, increasing their pressure on defense and playing smart on the other end. Zach Kaul provided a much-need spark plug during that span and Kenny Bradford took charge of the team at the point guard spot, as FPU took a 53-48 lead.

The rest of the second half was a back-and-forth battle. In the first half it had been Daum scoring 20 points and hitting six threes to pace the Raiders but in the second half with the Sunbirds doing a better job of getting out on shooters, SOU excelled in the mid-range game. Thompson was a force in the second half, scoring 27 of his game-high 34.

Kaul gave the Sunbirds the lead 59-58 with 14:30 to go on an incredible rebound and putback. The display of athleticism for the 5'9" guard, out-rebounding a 6'8" player, brought the Sunbird fans to their feet. The game continued to go back and forth and the crowd was on its feet again as Eric Hipolito rebounded a missed free throw and put it back in, all with one hand, to tie the game at 75 with six minutes to play.

The game's final minutes were neck and neck, until the Sunbirds appeared to gain momentum when Bradford was fouled on a three-pointer with 2:53 to play, fouling out SOU guard Kyle Tedder. Bradford sank all three free-throws giving FPU the 87-83 lead. The Raiders went back to that mid-range game though, getting back-to-back buckets to tie it at 87 with under two minutes to go.

Thompson would draw a foul on the next Raider possession, hitting both free throws as SOU regained the lead. After Matt Christman's drive and layup spun out on the other end, FPU was called for a foul on the rebound giving Thompson two more free-throws. Antonio Credit drew a foul and got FPU back within two with 48 seconds left, but Thompson answered on the other end.

Thompson would score nine points in the final two minutes, seven of them from the line, to put the game out of reach for FPU. He finished with nine rebounds to go with his 34 points. Daum finished with 23, with all but three in the first half, Jordan Highland added 12 points and Jeff Bush had eight assists.

What really ended up costing the Sunbirds was their performance at the free-throw line. The team had a relatively easy time using their superior athleticism to get to the line against the Raiders (38 attempts), but the team would miss 14 free throws on the night (63%).

DeLeon added a game-high five steals to his 23 points. Bradford finished with 17 points and seven assists, playing very well at the point guard spot, while Kaul added 11 points, five assists and four steals.

Credit was a factor on both ends of the court, finishing with 18 points on 8-of-8 from the field. Hipolito led the team with seven rebounds, another area which could have been improved upon as the Raiders out-rebounded FPU 33-23.

FPU will have a quick turnaround as they face Fresno State in an exhibition tomorrow night at the Save Mart Center. FPU is 0-6 all-time in exhibitions with the NCAA Division I Bulldogs.