Friday, 7:30 p.m. - #16 Warner Pacific at #19 SOU - Live Stats - Live Video
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. - #11 Concordia at #19 SOU - Live Stats - Live Video
*SOU will take part in and be accepting donations for Asante Breast Cancer Awareness on Friday.

ASHLAND – The most pivotal – and the last – weekend of the regular season is upon the 19th-ranked Southern Oregon University men's basketball team.

SOU (22-6 overall, 11-5 Cascade Conference) will be home to face 16th-ranked Warner Pacific (22-6, 12-4) on Friday and 11th-ranked Concordia (22-5, 12-4) on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tipoffs at Riehm Arena.

The Knights and Cavaliers are still clinging to conference championships hopes, both one game behind third-ranked College of Idaho, which finishes its CCC slate at Evergreen and Northwest. The Raiders haven't technically been eliminated from title contention either, but a sweep would give them at least the No. 2 seed in the upcoming CCC tournament and one win would clinch a home game in Wednesday's quarterfinal round.

Of equal importance, a nice weekend would pad SOU's NAIA tournament resume, which already includes a 4-2 record against ranked foes. NAIA Division II coaches' poll voters were unmoved by last Saturday's 67-58 win over Oregon Tech, as the Raiders stayed at No. 19 and were surpassed by Union (Ky.), which owns a record of 24-4 but has yet to defeat a ranked opponent.

The Raiders won at Concordia in overtime on Dec. 5, 78-75, and were thumped by a score of 80-42 the next night at Warner Pacific, registering their lowest point total since 1983.

SOU would have gladly accepted these circumstances before the season, considering they had to replace an All-American post, the school's all-time leading assist man and the school's seventh-leading scorer from last year's squad. The circumstances also provide the chance to exorcise some demons.

Let's talk it out: Besides the benefit of playing at home, there are few differences between this weekend and last year's regular-season finales. Like this year, the Raiders entered their final CCC games, at Warner Pacific and Concordia, with a record of 22-6 overall and 11-5 in conference play. Like this year, they entered with a favorable ranking (No. 14) and the CCC's top shooting percentage (it was 50.8 then and is 50.7 now). Then everything went south. SOU's two worst nights of the season ensued, as they shot 30 percent and went 10-for-71 from 3-point range in a pair of blowout losses. SOU would go on to drop its CCC quarterfinal game against Northwest Christian and finish at No. 26 in the rankings. Concordia, at No. 25, was granted to final at-large bid to the NAIA tournament.

Quick hits:

- Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) and Jordan West (Gymea Bay, Australia/Port Hacking) have scored in double figures in the same games 20 times.

- West is averaging 16.2 points on 10 shots per game in SOU's last six. He's connected on 13 of his last 21 attempts from 3-point range, bringing his CCC average to 14.8 points to rank ninth. Thompson's 15.6 in conference play rank seventh, and he's No. 5 at 7.4 rebounds.

- Tim Weber (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg), who leads the NAIA with four triple-doubles, has recorded 10-plus assists on 10 occasions this season. College of Idaho's Emmanuel Morgan and Oregon Tech's Brandon Bautista are the CCC's only other players who have have hit 10 assists, doing it once each. Weber's 8.1 assists per game are No. 1 in the NAIA.

- Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Warner Pacific is the only team with more conference wins (51) than SOU (45).

- SOU is 6-2 at home against ranked opponents over the last three seasons. The Raiders are 9-1 at home overall this season.

- The Raiders haven't committed more than 13 turnovers in their last 10 games. They had 43 in their first conference games against Concordia and WPC.

About Warner Pacific: The Knights' staple for years has been their zone defense, and this season it's led to the CCC's top scoring defense (63.5 points per game) and lowest opponents' field-goal percentage (40.4). They have seven seniors on the roster – matching College of Idaho and Concordia for the most in the league – and are 10-2 over the last 12 games with their only CCC losses coming against Concordia (twice), C of I and Corban (by 18). Doug Thomas – who along with Thompson, Weber and Eric Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) are the only seniors among the league's top-30 scorers who have been with their respective teams all four years – leads the way at 15.3 points, while Earl Jones (14.8) and Coletun Tarr (14.3) aren't far behind. Ryan Parks is one of the CCC's top 3-point shooters (72-for-176) and Josh Black is second in assists (5.5 per game) behind Weber. WPC leads the all-time series against SOU, 33-25, but the Raiders have won the last three meetings in Ashland.

About Concordia: Count the Cavaliers among the most volatile teams in the CCC, in part because of the streaky nature of Tyler Velasquez, their leading scorer. Velasquez averages 15.8 points but has taken 120 more shots than the next-closest teammate and is shooting the lowest percentage (36.7) among rotation regulars. A cast of others lend plenty of help: Anthony Holton, Thomas Pierce, Justyn Searle and Esvan Middleton – all seniors, along with Velasquez – average between 10 and 12 points, and Middleton is the nation's second-leading rebounder (11.6). SOU has won six of the last eight head-to-head meetings with Concordia and leads the all-time series, 32-26.