ASHLAND – The stakes have never been higher in one of the state's longest-running rivalries than they will be Saturday at 7 p.m., when the 18th-ranked Southern Oregon men's basketball team will take on No. 4 Eastern Oregon in a Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinal contest.

Southern Oregon improved to 23-9 overall this season with a 100-88 quarterfinal win over Concordia on Wednesday, moving the Raiders one step closer to their first NAIA National Tournament berth since 2006. The win, SOU's first postseason victory since 2005, gave the Raiders 23 in a season for only the sixth time in program history. A win over Eastern Oregon on Saturday would tie the program record of 24, accomplished during the 1941-42 and 1946-47 seasons.

Saturday's matchup will serve as a rubber match for the season after the teams split the regular season conference series. Southern Oregon handed then-No. 2 Eastern Oregon its first loss of the season, 72-68 in Ashland on Dec. 14, before a top-ranked Mountaineer squad defeated SOU 75-61 last month in La Grande.

“I think the teams are fairly evenly matched,” SOU head coach Brian McDermott said. “They finished tied for the conference championship for a reason, and they were ranked number one because they've got a really good team. They've got a number of good players; they've got a good system; they're very well-coached and they can get up and down the floor and shoot the ball.”

The Mountaineers stumbled a bit down the stretch, losing two of their final three regular games to drop out of the top seed in the conference tournament. In Wednesday's home quarterfinal, the second-seeded Mountaineers needed a last-second three-pointer by J.D. Esters to hold off upset-minded seventh seed Oregon Tech 77-75.

Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon have met 176 times since the series began in 1930-31, the third-most times SOU has faced a single opponent (behind only Oregon Tech and Western Oregon). The Raiders own a 94-82 all-time record, although the Mountaineers have claimed 13 of the past 16 meetings.

The Raider offense led the conference in scoring (77.2 points per game), shooting percentage (.481), three-point percentage (.407) and assists (17.3). Meanwhile, SOU also boasted one of the top defenses in the league, ranking first in three-point percentage defense (.283) and second in shooting percentage defense (.394) and rebounding (38.6).

Kyle Tedder (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield), Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) and David Sturner (Philomath, Ore./Philomath) have been the Raiders' top scoring trio all season, with all three averaging double-figures. Tedder tied a career-high point total in Wednesday's win over Concordia, scoring 33 points to lead SOU in the game. Point guard Jeff Bush (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) has joined the scoring party late in the season, reaching double-digits in each of the past three games while connecting on nine of 11 shot attempts from beyond the three-point line during that stretch.

“The biggest key is us playing the way that we've been playing offensively, where we're sharing the ball and moving the ball better and our shot selection is better,” McDermott said. “It's been like that for the last six or seven games, and if we can maintain that then I think Eastern will probably see a little bit different Southern team than what they've seen the first two teams.”

Southern Oregon shot a season-best 60.7 percent in Wednesday's win, and the offense has been on fire during a current seven-game win streak. The Raiders have shot 55.1 percent (204-of-370) during that stretch, including 44.7 percent (67-of-150) from long range, to win all seven games with an average scoring margin of +13.4. The defense has dominated as well in those wins, limiting opponents to 38.8 percent shooting (180-of-464) overall and 27.6 percent (50-of-181) from beyond the arc.

Saturday's game will be a true test of offense versus defense, as the EOU defense has been formidable all season. The Mountaineers led the conference in scoring defense (64.1 points per game), scoring margin (+10.3), rebounding (42.2) and rebounding margin (+10.1), while ranking second in blocks (3.4) and third in overall shooting percentage defense (.399) and three-point percentage defense (.326).

Anthony Brown (11.9 points per game) leads a balanced scoring attack that also includes Trent Roos (11.6) and Jason Mumm (10.8). Brown ranked fifth in the CCC in rebounding (8.0), while Mumm ranked fourth in shooting (.549) and Esters ranked second in assists (4.9) and assist/turnover ratio (2.2).

“With us it's all about ball movement and player movement,” McDermott said. “If we can get that going, then we feel good about our chances of going into La Grande and stealing one.”