EUGENE – The Roseburg boys basketball team dug itself an early hole against the South Eugene Axemen on Friday night and, despite its best efforts, couldn’t overcome the deficit in a 59-52 loss.

The Indians went 0-for-9 from the floor in the first quarter and trailed the Axemen 11-3 heading to the second. Collin Warmouth’s three free throws were Roseburg’s only points of the opening eight minutes.

The three points were good enough to hold a lead through much of the first quarter. South Eugene was equally cold to start the game. The Axemen scored only one point over the first six minutes of play, but finished the first quarter on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good.

Roseburg (10-6; 1-3 SWC) outscored South Eugene 20-15 in the second period to close the gap down to a three-point score at halftime. The Indians would have been closer if not for a last-second basket by South’s Aidan Clark. A fade-away jumper by the 6-foot-8 sophomore beat the buzzer to send the Axemen to the locker room up 26-23.

South Eugene (8-8; 3-1 SWC) jumped on the Indians again in the third quarter. A 7-0 run out of the halftime break put the Axemen up double digits. They would build as much as a 15-point lead during the third and led by 13 going to the final period.

Roseburg continued to trail South Eugene by as much as 13 midway through the fourth quarter, but a late run got the lead down to single digits. The Axemen led 56-52 with 42 seconds remaining, but the Indians turned the ball over twice and missed a free throw, while South Eugene sealed the win from the charity stripe.

The Axemen were playing without leading scorer Jay Elmore, who was out with an ankle injury suffered a week prior against North Medford. Will Graves and Cole McAninch each scored 15 to lead South Eugene.

Collin Warmouth scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to spur the Indians’ comeback attempt. He tied his season-high of 27 points, but it wasn’t enough. Cody Johnson scored 13 points in the second half after going scoreless in the first.

Roseburg will next face defending conference champion North Medford on Tuesday.

ROSEBURG 3; 20; 9; 20 – 52
S. EUGENE 11; 15; 19; 14 – 59

ROSEBURG (52) – Collin Warmouth 27, Johnson 13, Medak 6, Crince 2, Stone 2, Black 2, Lake, Pickle, Ellis.

S. EUGENE (59) – Will Graves 15, Cole McAninch 15, Clark 10, Soifer 6, Mitchell 5, Harris 4, Lininger 2, Joyce 2, Lucas, Berryman, Leonard, Beottcher.