*Friday, 6:30 p.m. - #10 SOU at College of Idaho – Live Stats – Live Video
*NAIA Network Game of the Week
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. - #10 SOU at Eastern Oregon – Live Stats – Live Video
 

ASHLAND – Nothing has been settled five weekends into the Cascade Conference men's basketball schedule. The top of the standings remain especially messy.

That will change this weekend – at least a little bit, at least temporarily – when 10th-ranked Southern Oregon (17-3 overall, 7-2) visits fourth-ranked College of Idaho (18-3, 7-2) on Friday and Eastern Oregon (11-8, 3-6) on Saturday. Both games will tip off at approximately 7:30 p.m. local time.

The other two teams locked in a first-place tie with SOU and C of I, 12th-ranked Concordia and 18th-ranked Warner Pacific, will also meet Friday in Portland. Northwest Christian and Oregon Tech are both two games out of first place.

Quality road wins have been hard to come by, but the Raiders picked up another one Saturday in an 84-80 triumph at Oregon Tech, their seventh straight head-to-head against the Owls. Prior to that win, and C of I's victory Saturday at Northwest Christian, the top six teams had been 24-1 at home in CCC action.

This next challenge will trump them all for the Raiders: C of I has won 27 straight at the J.A. Albertson Center, which is expected to fill to capacity for Friday's contest. The last time SOU swept this road trip was during the 2005-06 season.

The Raiders clawed past both teams in Ashland back on Dec. 19 and 20, 114-104 in overtime against EOU and 77-74 over then-No. 2 C of I. Close calls like those have not been uncommon for SOU, which has trailed in the final two minutes of four of its CCC wins and lost at the buzzer in one of its CCC losses.

All-American spotting: As one could have guessed, Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg)'s performance in SOU's win over College of Idaho – 1-for-11 shooting from the field, 0-for-4 from downtown, six points – was indeed an outlier. In five games since then, the senior forward is averaging 20.8 points (right at his season average) on 57-percent shooting from the field and 56-percent shooting from 3-point range (18-for-32). He put a season-high 32 points with 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range on OIT, making 10 of 11 shots at one point after missing his first four. He now owns 13 30-point games in his career, and his 52.3-percent accuracy from outside is tops in the NAIA. The Raiders could use more of the same against the Coyotes, who have held him to a 30-percent clip from the field (14-for-47)  in three meetings since the beginning of last season.

Quick hits:

- Jordan West (Gymea Bay, Australia/Port Hacking), one of SOU's most consistent threats with double-digit scoring outputs in 17 of 20 games and an average of 13.2, collected a career-high 10 rebounds at OIT for his first double-double. He's shooting 57 percent from the field.

- Tim Weber (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) dished out 12 more assists at OIT and moved up to No. 1 in the NAIA at 7.8 per game. In SOU's last eight games he's averaging 9.9.

- As a team, the Raiders have shot 62 percent in their last three games from the field. In that span, 75 of their 93 baskets, or 81 percent of them, have been assisted (compared to 63 percent for the season, and 54 percent for their opponents in conference play). Their season shooting percentage is up to 51, ranking sixth in the NAIA, and their 18.4 assists per game also rank sixth.

- The last time the Raiders were 17-3 was during the 2005-06 season, which was the third time they'd gotten off to such a start in program history.

- Ben DeSaulnier (Philomath, Ore./Philomath) and Kenny Meyer (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs) are a combined 16-for-32 from 3-point range in SOU's last six games.

About the Coyotes: The defending conference champions and preseason CCC favorites have lived up to their billing but have still just barely hung on at home a few times this season. A game-tying, banked-in 3-pointer helped them get to overtime and defeat Arizona Christian in November, and last-minute 3s got them past Warner Pacific (70-69) and Concordia (73-71) three weeks ago. Five Yotes average double figures: senior guards Demetrius Perkins (13.5) and Josh Wilson (11.2), Boise State transfer Joey Nebeker (11.0), University of Utah transfer Marko Kovacevic (11.0) and senior guard Jordan O'Byrne (10.4). They shoot 44 percent from the field and are holding opponents at 40 percent.

Six of the last seven games in the series have been decided by four points or less in regulation or in overtime. C of I leads the all-time head-to-head matchup, 46-21.

About the Mountaineers: EOU has taken some lumps since a 9-2 start – the loss at SOU would be the first of five straight – but is still dangerous with the second- and third-leading scorers in the conference, forward Bryan McGriff (22.2) and guard De'Sean Mattox (21.3), both first-year transfers. Mattox dropped 42 at SOU and McGriff had 31, though the pair made a combined 22 of 53 attempts. Case Rada, a guard who transferred from Sacramento State, did not play in the first matchup and is averaging 13.4 points on 37-percent shooting from outside. The team's shortcomings are on the defensive end, where the Mountaineers are allowing CCC opponents to score 83.6 points per game and shoot 50 percent.

SOU has won four straight over EOU and two straight in La Grande, leading the all-time series 98-82.