ASHLAND – The 2012-13 Cascade Collegiate Conference season begins this weekend for the 16th-ranked Southern Oregon men's basketball team, as the Raiders visit Northwest Christian and Corban on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Southern Oregon, 6-3 this season, was named CCC Adidas Team of the Week after knocking off then-No. 2 Oregon Tech and scoring the most points in a game in nearly 20 years in a 110-80 win over New Hope Christian. The Raiders' three nonconference losses this season have come against a pair of NAIA Div. I teams and No. 11 Davenport.

“I think it's served us pretty well,” SOU head coach Brian McDermott said of the Raiders' nonconference schedule. “We've had a number of very challenging games for us and a number of different styles, so we've had a chance to compete against some pretty good players and some pretty good teams. I think you have to do that in order to be able to compete in our league.”

The Raiders will enter the conference season averaging 82 points per game and shooting better than 50 percent (263-of-524) as a team. Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.4 points per game, while David Sturner (Philomath, Ore./Philomath) has averaged 14.7 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per contest. Kyle Tedder (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield) has added 12.3 points per game as the Raiders have prepared for a conference that features four nationally ranked teams.

“I think we're about as ready as we can get at this point in time,” McDermott said. “Our progress has been fairly steady. I think we've got a long ways to go, I've been saying our ceiling is pretty high, and we're not anywhere near it.”

Friday's conference opener will be against a 6-3 Northwest Christian team that is averaging 61.8 points per game. The Beacons' season thus far has been a series of three-game streaks, with a pair of three-win streaks sandwiching a three-loss streak against Rocky Mountain, Lewis-Clark State and Saint Martin's. Wyatt Taboh-Graziano has averaged 11.1 points to lead a balanced scoring attack, followed by Jordan Buhler at 10.9 points and Trevor Parker with 9.7 points.

“They have kind of a veteran group, at least in terms of how much they've played together,” McDermott said. “They'll be a big challenge. They're very disciplined. Over the last couple of years they've been one of the better defensive teams in the league.”

The Raiders are 23-16 all-time against Northwest Christian, with three wins in the past four contests to break an eight-game NCU win streak in the series from 1999-2010. Southern Oregon swept the Beacons last season, winning 63-59 in Ashland and earning an 83-72 overtime victory in Eugene.

Corban comes into the weekend with a 2-3 record, as the Warriors have lost games to Montana Tech, Montana Western and Western Oregon and knocked off Menlo and Willamette. They average 71.8 points per game, led by Jordan Carter's 20 points per contest and 50 percent shooting from beyond the arc (12-of-25). Jacob Kopra has added 15.4 points per game, while Marcus Butler has tallied 13.6 and Josiah Sebens has posted 10 points per contest.

“I think they're a much more explosive team, and a team that's more dependent on the three-point shot,” McDermott said. “They've got one of the best players in the league in Jordan Carter. He is just one of the top players in our league, and he has been since he was a freshman.”

Southern Oregon owns a 33-41 all-time record against Corban, including wins in seven of the last 10 meetings between the teams. Last season, the Raiders picked up a 70-67 win in Ashland before the Warriors claimed a 91-78 victory in Salem.

“Northwest Christian and Corban run real similar types of motion offense, and how you cover some of their cuts is very much the same,” McDermott said of the weekend matchups. “Both places are kind of fun places to play. There will be good crowds and it will give us a chance to get off and rolling in the league.”