7:30 p.m. Friday – SOU (15-7, 5-6) vs. Multnomah (13-9, 4-6)
7:30 p.m. Saturday – SOU (15-7, 5-6) vs. Warner Pacific (13-7, 5-5)
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ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon men's basketball team's margin for error all but disappeared two weeks ago during a painful homestand. But after rebounding with two road wins, the Raiders' course-correction efforts bring them back to Lithia Motors Pavilion this weekend with the pressure turned up.

Outside of the NAIA Division II Top 25 poll for the first time this season, the Raiders (15-7 overall, 5-6 Cascade Conference) continue their uphill climb Friday against Multnomah (13-9, 4-6) and Saturday against Warner Pacific (13-7, 5-5), tipping off at 7:30 p.m. both nights. With seven regular-season games to go, they're tied for sixth place, two games back of third, and will get another shot against every team ahead of them in the standings.  

LAST TIME OUT: the Raiders came home from their sweep in Washington with a couple encouraging developments: After displaying woeful outside shooting for the better part of a month, they matched their highest 3-point make total in the last 20 years with 16 in a 107-76 win over Evergreen; and after losing leads in five of their six CCC losses, they pulled off their biggest comeback in seven years by erasing a 19-point deficit for a 79-76 overtime win at Northwest. Tate Hoffman scored a game-high 18 against Evergreen, Brad Allen went 5-of-6 from the field, and the pair combined for six triples as SOU led from start to finish. After trailing 31-12 at Northwest, Kaj Bansen got them back in the game with six 3-pointers – the most for a Raider in three seasons. Hoffman helped them finish the job late, recording 20 of his 22 points and nine of his 11 rebounds after halftime.

BRIEFLY:

• Tate Hoffman has recorded five double-doubles, including three in the eight games he's played as a reserve. He's averaging 13.1 points when coming off the bench, and over his last four games has shot 55 percent from the field (22-of-40).
• Jordan Hunt is 20 points away from becoming the 22nd player in SOU history to score 1,000 career points. In CCC play, he ranks 13th in the circuit in scoring (13.5), sixth in rebounding (7.2) and fourth in blocks (1.4).
• In CCC games, Tristen Holmes is the conference's only player among the top-15 in points (19.3), assists (4.2) and rebounds (6.4); he did the same as a sophomore. With 413 career assists, he's now No. 4 on SOU's all-time list and the first player in team history to eclipse 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists.
• Tez Allen has averaged 10 points on 50-percent shooting over SOU's last five games. Prior to this stretch, he was posting 5.2 per game.

ABOUT MULTNOMAH:

• The Lions have made themselves dangerous by becoming the top 3-point shooting team in the country with 18 makes per game and also feature the NAIA's top scorer, Justin Martin (31.0). Martin has scored 30-plus on 10 occasions and set a national record with 71 earlier this season against Warner Pacific, going 15-of-19 from 3 in the contest.
• Martin is far from the only playmaker on the team: Brett Blackstock, Zach Richardson and Ben Grandle all average over 15, and the foursome has combined to hit 329 3-pointers. In comparison, SOU and its opponents have hit a combined 311.
• SOU is 11-1 against the Lions but took its first loss in the series, 96-83, on Dec. 30. The Raiders led by 13 at halftime but couldn't overcome Martin's 42 points and an additional 23 from Grandle.

ABOUT WARNER PACIFIC:

• WPU, a perennial CCC championship contender, enters the weekend having won three of its last four and is coming off solid home defeats of Eastern Oregon (80-64) and Multnomah (87-82).
• Ashland High product Collin Malcolm, a 6-foot-7 wing, is perhaps the circuit's most well-rounded player with averages of 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. With the offense operating around him, the Knights own the top field-goal percentage (49.2) in conference play.
• SOU is 33-35 all-time against the Knights but has won the last eight CCC regular-season meetings. The Raiders held them to their lowest CCC point total since 2004 in a 63-54 win on Dec. 29.