Friday, 7:30 p.m. – Eastern Oregon at #16 SOU – Live Stats – Live Video
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. – #2 College of Idaho at #16 SOU – Live Stats – Live Video

ASHLAND – An up-close look at two of the most talented teams in the Cascade Conference should give the Southern Oregon men's basketball an idea of how worthy it is of a No. 16 NAIA ranking in a hurry this weekend.

Eastern Oregon (9-2 overall, 1-1 CCC), which with the help of some newcomers has turned into one of the most dangerous teams the nation has to offer, visits the Raiders (11-2, 1-1) on Friday. Defending CCC champ College of Idaho (13-1, 2-0), which returned a majority of its roster and added a couple of NCAA Division I transfers, will come to town Saturday. Both games will start at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside Riehm Arena.

While EOU and C of I both swept Northwest (Wash.) and Evergreen at home in the first weekend of CCC play, SOU traveled to Portland where it upset 10^th-ranked Concordia in overtime and was whacked by Warner Pacific. Last weekend the Raiders got back on track offensively, assisting 31 of 34 makes in a 94-71 win at California Merced.

He'll pass: Tim Weber (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) was just shy of his third triple-double of the season at Merced with 11 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds. Those 15 assists were the third-most in SOU history, more than anyone's recorded since 1991, and they brought his season average to 7.1, which ranks fifth in the NAIA and first in the CCC. He's recorded 10-plus assists four times this season, also ranking among the CCC's leaders in points (11.6, 28^th), rebounds (7.3, 9^th) and blocked shots (0.8, 9^th).

Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) leads SOU with 21.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest, and is coming off an encouraging outing at Merced in which he went 7-for-8 with 20 points in one half of work. He'd scored a total of eight points in SOU's previous three game – sitting out the first with an injury, getting limited to eight at Concordia, and getting shut out for the first time in his career at Warner Pac.

Jordan West (Gymea Bay, Australia/Port Hacking) has remained consistent inside, hitting double figures in scoring in 10 of 13 games. He averages 12.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. As a team the Raiders are shooting 48.2 percent from the field (while holding opponents to 41.9) and 35.2 percent from downtown (while holding opponents to 31.8).

About Eastern Oregon: The Mountaineers have gotten loose from 3-point range over their last three games, making an impressive 40 of 83 while shooting 58.3 percent overall. De'Sean Mattox, a senior transfer, has moved into the offensive spotlight with 21.3 points, six rebounds and five assists per game – including averages of 31.3, 10.3 and 6.3 in his last three games. Bryan McGriff, another transfer, is a 6-foot-7 forward who leads EOU with 21.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Case Rada, another transfer from Sacramento State, puts up 15.5 points, and Deonta Edwards, who started his career at Washington State, averages 11.6 points. Returning 6-10 center Kalvin Johanson is a presence inside with 8.1 points, eight rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game.

SOU has won five of its last six against the Mountaineers and leads the all-time series, 97-82.

About College of Idaho: The Raiders are 26-6 at home over the last three seasons, but the Coyotes stole arguably the most thrilling of those games last January, 109-100 in double OT. That win put them alone in first place and they haven't looked back. They're off to the best start in program history and earned an especially notable win on Nov. 28 against Vanguard, the top-ranked team in NAIA Division I.

The Yotes brought back their entire backcourt from last season and replaced a couple of all-conference posts with Joey Nebeker, a 6-7 transfer from Boise State, and Marko Kovacevic, a 6-11 transfer from Univresity of Utah. Guards Demetrius Perkins (12.6 points, 4.7 rebounds) and Josh Wilson (10.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists) still set the tempo offensively and defensively, and senior wing Sydney Donaldson is the reigning CCC Defensive Player of the Year. Nebeker averages 10.9 points and 5.9 boards, and Kovacevic puts up 10.8 and 8.1

According to C of I Sports Information, 133 CCC teams have made the trip to Oregon Tech and SOU since the start of the 2000-01 season and the Yotes last year became just the 10^th to sweep it. They lead the all-time series with SOU, 46-20.