7:30 p.m. Friday – #11 SOU at #12 Northwest Christian – Live Stream | Live Stats
7:30 p.m. Saturday – #11 SOU at Corban – Live Stream/Stats
CCC Standings | CCC Leaders | SOU Season Stats

ASHLAND – A new Cascade Conference men's basketball champion will emerge Friday night when 11th-ranked Southern Oregon (23-5 overall, 16-2 CCC) and 12th-ranked Northwest Christian (23-5, 16-2) go head-to-head for the title with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Morse Events Center in Eugene.

A share of the crown is still in play: The regular season wraps up Saturday, as the Raiders travel to Corban (15-11, 9-9) and the Beacons host Oregon Tech (20-8, 10-8). But if the Raiders defeat the Beacons, they'll own the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping the season series – they won the first matchup, 80-75, on Dec. 6 in Ashland – and if the Beacons win, they'd take a more complicated tiebreaker as long as heavily-favored Eastern Oregon (9-10 CCC) wins Thursday at Walla Walla (2-16).

Barring a Walla Walla upset, Friday's winner will own the CCC tournament's top seed, which comes with an automatic bid to the NAIA Div. II national tournament. The Raiders haven't won the regular-season championship in 11 years, and the Beacons haven't won it since first joining the CCC eight years ago.

Good basketball and even better execution and fortune in the clutch have brought SOU and NCU to this point.

The Raiders' theatrics are no secret: they're now 11-0 in conference games that have been within five points in the final five minutes, banking three wins of that nature just last week, and they've won 10 games that they trailed at halftime.

The Beacons are no strangers to drama either. Kenny Blackwell's 3-pointer with one second left made them 68-67 winners over Eastern Oregon on Dec. 19, Javonte Byrd's 3-pointer with one second left made them 63-60 winners at Corban on Dec. 22, and Byrd scored five points in the final three seconds for 77-76 victory at Eastern Oregon on Jan. 22.

The Beacons had a one-game lead atop the standings until Saturday's 78-72 setback at third-place Warner Pacific. It ended a 16-game win streak and was their first loss since they went down 69 days earlier at SOU. The Raiders now have the league's longest active win streak at eight games.

Playoff Picture: No matter what happens this weekend, the Raiders are assured no worse than the No. 2 seed in the eight-team CCC tournament, meaning they are guaranteed home-court advantage through at least the semifinal round. They'll host a quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. next Wednesday at Mountain Avenue Gym, while the semifinal and championship rounds will tip off at the same time on Feb. 27 and March 1. SOU has advanced to two of the last three tournament title games and lost both on the road.

The CCC's second automatic bid to the NAIA Championships goes to the tournament champion. But if the regular-season champ also wins the tournament, the second automatic bid goes to the No. 2 seed.

NAIA Top 25: The Raiders made their biggest jump of regular season in this week's poll, up three spots to No. 11. Their top position this season was No. 10 in the Dec. 8 poll, but they've been fighting an uphill battle since their last loss on Jan. 16 at EOU dropped them from 12th to 18th. A 10-1 record over their last 11 games has only given them a net gain of one spot. NCU went from No. 8 to 12th, and Warner Pacific went from 24th to 21st.

Last season, SOU earned an at-large bid to the national tournament based on its No. 21 ranking.

Quick Hits:
– In wins last week over Oregon Tech (88-84), Eastern Oregon (92-86) and College of Idaho (76-72), Joel Spear nearly averaged a triple-double. He posted 13.7 points, 9.7 assists and 8.7 rebounds per game and made the go-ahead free throws with 34 seconds left against C of I. He previously made a game-winning free throw with one second left on Jan. 23 against Northwest.
– SOU's success down the stretch is thanks in part to the play of Ben DeSaulnier. During this eight-game win streak, the sophomore is averaging 11.5 points in the second half on 71-percent shooting from the field and 57-percent shooting from downtown.
– DeSaulnier and Jordan West are both averaging 16.5 points in conference play to lead the Raiders, ranking 13th among CCC leaders. West is also 10th in rebounding (7.1) and fourth in blocks (1.1), and he's first in assists (3.2) among post players.
– SOU went undefeated at home in the regular season for the first time since 1942.
– The Raiders lead the nation in assists at 20.3 per game and have recorded 21 or more in each of their last five.

About Northwest Christian: Last year, the Raiders kept their season alive and ended NCU's with a 98-92 double-overtime win in the CCC tournament quarterfinals. Two years ago, the Beacons ended SOU's season and marched onto their first national tournament with an 86-74 win in the quarterfinals… Six Beacons are averaging at least 9.5 points, led by Javonte Byrd's 14.8. Byrd has a history of torching the Raiders, averaging 21 points in seven career meetings… The Beacons are the top 3-point shooting team in the CCC at 41 percent. SOU is second at 38.6… SOU leads the all-time series, 27-21. Of the last four meetings in Eugene, three have gone to overtime and the other was decided at the buzzer in regulation last season.

About Corban: SOU's most improbable win of the season was at the Warriors' expense: On Dec. 5 in Ashland, the Raiders trailed 77-71 with 20 seconds left in regulation when Kenny Meyer hit a 3, Clay Sierra came up with a steal and Spear tied it with another 3 with four seconds left. In overtime, West made a 3 with three seconds left to secure an 86-84 victory… The Warriors have been carried by point guard AJ Monterossi (19.1 points, 5.1 assists) and post Cyrus Ward (18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds). They lead the CCC in team field-goal percentage (51.6)… Corban leads the all-time series, 41-40, but SOU has won the last seven matchups.