After a miserable first half which saw them down by as many as 24 points, the Seattle Sonics clawed their way back this evening to make a game of their exhibition with the Utah Jazz. The Sonics surrendered 59 points to the Jazz in the first half of the game, played in Ogden at Weber State University, but tightened the screws in the second half by making use for the first time in game action of a zone. The game was tied as late as under five minutes left in the game, at 86, but the Jazz proved tougher down the stretch, winning 103-98.

Playing without guard Shammond Williams and forwards Vin Baker and Predrag Drobnjak -- two of their top three big men -- the Sonics were forced to start journeyman Antonio Harvey at power forward. They rotated several players through the two big men position, with the most impressive being second year center Jerome James. As he has throughout the month of October, James filled the stat sheet, scoring 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Negatively, however, he turned the ball over 4 times and committed 4 fouls in just 22 minutes. Gary Payton lead the Sonics in scoring for the fifth time in seen pre-season games, with 20, and added 9 assists. Rashard Lewis also chipped in 15 points and 8 rebounds.

The Jazz were lead by the 19 points of free agent pickup John Amaechi, on phenomenal 6 of 8 shooting. The man ahead of Amaechi on the depth chart, Greg Ostertag, had a solid night, with 8 points on 4 of 5 shooting and a team-high 8 rebounds. The venerable John Stockton played just 19 minutes, but still recorded 7 assists and made his only shot. Karl Malone struggled for Utah, netting but 8 points on 2 of 10 shooting.

Sonic rookie forward Vladimir Radmanovic, whose play this pre-season has been a disappointment to some, had a nice night shooting the ball, making 3 of his 4 shots -- all threes -- to finish with 9 points in 11 minutes. Amongst the other contenders for big man minutes, Art Long was the most impressive, grabbing 5 rebounds and scoring 4 points in his 12 minutes. Olumide Oyedeji, another player who has struggled during the exhibition season, had a brief -- but effective -- run, and received kudos from Sonic color man and front office member Billy McKinney when he drew a charge.

The Sonics conclude their warmup for the regular season tomorrow night in Sacramento at 7:00.