SOU NOTES

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon men's basketball team will look to clinch a home game in the first round of next week's Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament when the Raiders close out the regular season this weekend with road games against Corban on Friday and Northwest Christian on Saturday.

Southern Oregon, 16-11 overall and 9-7 in conference play this season, is tied with Eastern Oregon for the fourth and final hosting spot in the tournament. Depending on how the weekend plays out around the conference either team could pick up the tie-breaker advantage, meaning both teams will be paying close attention to each other's scores on Friday and Saturday.

“It's a big weekend, which goes without saying,” SOU head coach Brian McDermott said. “There are tons of playoff implications, and we are far from being able to figure out who's going to play where.”

Corban enters the final weekend of the regular season ranked sixth in the conference standings with an 8-8 record, 16-12 overall. In 16 conference games, Corban ranks seventh in scoring offense (67.0 points per game) and first in scoring defense (66.4), while the Warriors' +0.6 scoring margin ranks seventh.

“Corban's been playing very good basketball,” McDermott said. “They're a very good offensive team, Erik Cronrath is a very nice post player. They surround him with shooters all over the place, so they make you make a decision about whether you're going to help down on him or cover the shooters, and they have one of the best perimeter guys in the league in Jordan Carter.”

Jordan Carter ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (16.2) and Erik Cronrath ranks eight (14.6) and Jacob Kopra ranks 13th in rebounding (6.1). Carter's 4.31 assists per game in CCC play ranks fifth, and Cronrath's 1.31 blocked shots per game ranks third. The Warriors have won five of their last six games, with the lone loss a 68-67 defeat to Warner Pacific in Portland on Saturday.

Southern Oregon has faced Corban 72 times since the 1967-68 season and owns a 33-39 all-time record against the Warriors. The Raiders have had had their most success against the Warriors in recent years, going 11-4 in the last 15 meetings between the teams, including a 70-67 home win in December.

“We've got our work cut out for us,” McDermott said. “It's a tough place to play.”

Northwest Christian enters the regular season's final weekend looking to clinch a spot in the CCC tournament. The Beacons are tied for eighth in the conference standings with College of Idaho, each owning a 4-12 record, with NCU 11-17 overall. The Beacons rank in the bottom third of the conference in most team statistics, but they do lead the league with 57 blocks in 16 CCC games, an average of 3.56 per contest. They also rank second in steals (9.06) and third in turnover margin (+1.75).

Jordan Buhler ranks 20th in the conference in scoring (11.8 points per game during CCC play), and his 5.8 rebounds per game ranks 14th. Greg Shepard leads the conference in blocks (1.5 per game), with Buhler (0.73) and Brody McGowan (0.63) ranking ninth and 10th. The Beacons have lost five of their last six games, but they knocked off Concordia 77-76 on the road in their last game on Saturday.

“All of their games in the last three or four weeks have been winnable,” McDermott said of the Beacons. “I think offensively they've had some inconsistencies, but they've been very good defensively. They'll be a tough second-night opponent.”

Southern Oregon has faced Northwest Christian 38 times since the 1980-81 season, with the Raiders owning a 22-16 record against the Beacons during that stretch. The Raiders dominated the first 20 years of the series, winning 20 of 27 meetings prior to the 1999-2000 season. Since then, Northwest Christian has won nine of 11 meetings, with the SOU victories a 71-63 road win last season and a 63-59 home win in December.

Through 16 conference games, Southern Oregon has averaged 69.9 points per game with an average scoring margin of +1.4. The Raiders lead the conference in opponents' shooting percentage (.411) and ranks second in rebounding (37.8 per game).

Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) is averaging 18.3 points per game in conference play to rank second in the CCC, and he ranks fifth in the league in rebounding (7.6 per game) right behind teammate Terriel Thomas (Boise, Idaho/Borah) (7.8). Jordan Highland (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) ranks ninth in the CCC with a 56.1 shooting percentage and is averaging 12.8 points per game, while Jeff Bush (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) ranks fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.07).