With the Cascade Conference season at the halfway point, the Southern Oregon men's basketball team heads into their games this weekend knowing that two wins could completely flip the season around.

The Raiders will play host to College of Idaho on Friday and Eastern Oregon on Saturday. Both games are set to tipoff at 7:30 p.m.

After this past weekend's close loss to rivals Oregon, Southern Oregon is currently sits at 9-9 overall and 1-8 in conference play.

Expectations were high for the Raiders this year following their delightful 7-1 pre-season record.

In conference however, the Raiders struggled to find that same rhythm that had made them such a force to be reckoned with in the preseason.

Just one win out of nine conference games makes this weekend a must win situation in order for the team to get their season back on track and into the race for a berth in the Cascade Conference postseason tournament.

Southern Oregon will be looking to avenge the loss they suffered to College of Idaho (7-9, 3-6) earlier this season as they fell 87-78. After that victory, the Coyotes have dropped four of five heading into Friday's matchup.

Eastern Oregon will also prove to be a tricky opponent, having already defeated the Raiders 91-76 as well. The Mountaineers are 14-5 overall and in a four-way tie for first place in the conference with a 7-2 mark. Eastern Oregon is ranked 18th in this week's Top 25 poll.

Southern Oregon has been paced this season by senior guard Jarrad Childs (Paso Robles, Calif./Paso Robles) who has averaged 14.9 points for the Raiders. Senior center Ryan Staker (Las Vegas, Nevada/Centennial) and senior wing Justonn Smith (Redwood City, Calif./Woodside) - both newcomers - have also been impressive averaging 11.6 points and 10.2 points respectively.

Southern Oregon has also started to play better on the defensive end, limiting high scoring Oregon Tech to just 72 points last week.