7:30 p.m. Friday – SOU at Corban – Live Stats/Stream
7:30 p.m. Saturday – SOU at Northwest Christian – Live Stats/Stream

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon men's basketball team should have no qualms about leaving behind one of its most daunting nonleague slates in recent history. After establishing themselves, and taking a few lumps, against some of the NAIA's top competition, the Raiders will jump into the Cascade Conference race this weekend.

Including their exhibition at Oregon State, the Raiders saw six teams that qualified for their respective national tournaments last season and came out with a record of 6-4. The real work begins Friday and Saturday, when they'll travel to play the Corban Warriors (6-3) and the 13th-ranked Northwest Christian Beacons (6-1). Both games tip off at 7:30 p.m.

The Old Guard(s): SOU's backcourt of Ben DeSaulnier (16.7 points), Tristen Holmes (12.8) and Kenny Meyer (9.8) enters the weekend as the team's top three in scoring and assists. The production of DeSaulnier and Holmes, in particular, has proved to be a tipping point: In wins, DeSaulnier is averaging 20 points and Holmes is averaging 14.8; in losses, DeSaulnier is putting up 11.8 and Holmes 9.7.

Progress Report: SOU knew coming into the year that it would have to rely heavily on contributions from its eight freshmen, and through 10 games exactly half of its total minutes have been distributed to first-year players. They've responded ably to the challenge, combining for 33.1 points per game on 43-percent shooting and 20.6 rebounds.

Of note, Jordan Hunt, Tate Hoffman, Conor Carroll and Hunter Bradford (who has missed the last seven games with an injury) are all averaging between seven and nine points. Hunt leads the team in rebounds (6.6) and blocks (1.2), while Jason Simmrin leads the team in steals (1.2) and has averaged 5.8 points off the bench over SOU's last six games.

3-points of Emphasis: SOU is annually one of the CCC's most prolific 3-point shooting squads, and the Raiders' lack of experienced big men and influx of more shooters made them obvious candidates to extend defenses more often than usual. Indeed, they've gone from taking 34 percent of their total field-goal attempts from 3-point range the previous two years to 43 percent this year.

Diminished accuracy has contributed to some of their early struggles: At 31-percent shooting from distance (76-of-246), they rank 10th in the CCC and are sitting at their lowest mark in eight years. They'd benefit, however, from some simple regression to the mean. Long-distance staples Ben DeSaulnier, Justin Martin and Kenny Meyer – who attempted more 3s last year than anyone among SOU's returning players – are currently mired in a combined clip of 30 percent (29-of-96) after shooting 39 percent (146-of-372) in 2015-16.

About the Opponents: The teams Corban and Northwest Christian defeated during nonleague play have a current combined record of 6-54 – with the exception of British Columbia, which is 14-0 against Canadian teams but went 1-1 against NCU. Given that fact, there is a lot left to be learned about the Warriors and Beacons.

Led by first-year head coach Austin Johnson, Corban is 42-41 all-time against SOU but has lost eight of the last nine meetings, including two of three last year and a 71-68 decision in the CCC tournament quarterfinals. Coming off a 10-10 showing in the CCC last year, the Warriors lost their starting frontcourt and returned three starting guards – the most dangerous being junior point man AJ Monterossi, who averaged 14 points and 6.7 assists in three meetings against SOU last year. Of the last five matchups, SOU won two in overtime and two more by three points in regulation.

NCU, the defending CCC regular-season and tournament champion, has six players scoring in double figures per night, led by forward Jay Mayernik (15.3 points, 15.5 rebounds) and point guard Kenny Blackwell (14.8 points, 5.2 assists) – both of whom starred on last year's squad. SOU leads the all-time series, 27-22. The teams split last year's matchups, but the Raiders' loss – on the final weekend of the regular season – cost them a share of the CCC title. Four of the last 11 contests have required overtime, and the Raiders have dropped three straight in Eugene.