Heading into this weekend's Cascade Conference action, the Southern Oregon men's basketball team is in a current dead heat with four teams for the last couple spots for conference postseason tournament.

The Raiders are 7-16 overall and 5-9 in the Cascade Conference tied for seventh and eighth place, just a half game ahead of Northwest and a game ahead of Cascade.

The Raiders are well aware of the importance of the four-game homestand and will look for continued supported from unheralded stars like sophomore Trevor McCay (Petersburg, Alaska/Petersburg) who finished with a career-high 22 points including four 3-pointers in the loss last weekend to the College of Idaho.

This weekend's matchup probably couldn't have been scripted better as the Raiders face off against Cascade College, who are only one game back of the Raiders in the conference standing and would own the tie-breaker if the Raiders were to lose this game as the Thunderbirds beat the Raiders on Jan. 17 in overtime 100-99 earlier this season.

The Thunderbirds (11-11, 4-10) are in the midst of a four game losing streak.

“They are as deep as any team in the league and we match up well against them,” SOU head coach Brian McDermott said.

This weekend's second game showcases fourth place Warner Pacific looking the sweep the season series against the Raiders. The Raiders lost to the Knights back on Jan. 16 86-65.

The Knights (17-5, 10-4) are tied with two other teams for second place and are a half game back of the first place Evergreen. The Knights are ranked 14th in this week's Top 25 poll.

“We played them very tight last time, but we need to match up with them better,” McDermott said.

In the Cascade Conference, only the top eight teams make the playoffs.

Mathematically, no teams have been eliminated from playoff contention.

The Raiders have six games remaining including a road matchup against Corban in Salem Feb. 20 before finishing out the season on the road against last place Concordia University Feb. 21.

“We are not thinking about changing anything up,” McDermott said. “We're just focusing on the playoffs.”