CCC CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
WEDNESDAY – QUARTERFINALS
6 p.m. – No. 8 Corban (13-17, 7-13) at No. 1 College of Idaho (27-3, 20-0)
7 p.m. – No. 7 Warner Pacific (14-15, 9-11) at No. 2 Southern Oregon (22-6, 16-4)
7 p.m. – No. 6 Northwest Christian (14-16, 9-11) at No. 3 Oregon Tech (24-6, 14-6)
7 p.m. – No. 5 Eastern Oregon (16-13, 10-10) at No. 4 Northwest (18-11, 13-7)
SATURDAY – SEMIFINALS
7 p.m. – Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed
7 p.m. – Other Quarterfinal Winners (at higher seed)
TUESDAY – CHAMPIONSHIP
7 p.m. – Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed

LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS

ASHLAND – As seventh-ranked Southern Oregon gears up for what it hopes is a lengthy stint in the postseason, the Raiders will pick up where they left off in the regular season: against Warner Pacific at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

In the quarterfinal round of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank, second-seeded SOU (22-6, 16-4) will host the seventh-seeded Knights (14-15, 9-11) again at 7 p.m. Wednesday, just four days removed from their last meeting. The Raiders completed a sweep the regular-season series with WPU for the fifth consecutive season but face an arduous road ahead as they seek a return trip to the CCC Tournament title game in the only circuit at the NAIA Division II level that features three top-eight teams.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Top-ranked College of Idaho secured the CCC's first automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Tournament – to be held March 11-17 in Sioux Falls, S.D. – by becoming the first team in conference history to go unbeaten through the CCC regular season. The second bid will be awarded to the tournament champion or, if C of I repeats, to SOU for finishing second in the regular season standings. Regardless of how the tourney plays out, SOU and No. 8 Oregon Tech are locks to at least receive at-large bids to the 32-team national tourney due to their high rankings. The final Top 25 coaches' poll, which dictates at-large teams and seeding, will be announced the March 4, the same day the 32-team field is unveiled. Another will be released Wednesday.

The CCC Tournament is not bracketed, meaning the highest remaining seed will be matched up with the lowest remaining seed in Saturday's semifinals, with the two highest remaining seeds hosting. The championship is slated for next Tuesday.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Raiders enjoyed two of their top offensive performances of the year against WPU but had to labor for both wins. On Jan. 3 in Portland, they fell behind 22-7 in the opening seven minutes before rattling off a 34-9 run to take over in a 100-92 decision. On Saturday, the teams were tied until the Knights watched the Raiders total 38 points over the final 11 minutes for a 98-83 win. SOU forwarded Tate Hoffman averaged 26.5 points on 19-of-26 shooting – including 10-of-14 from 3 – in the matchups, and Aaron Borich posted 20.5 points and 5.5 assists. WPU forward KJ Bosco has been a thorn in SOU's side, averaging 27.5 against the Raiders and 11.7 against 12 other opponents.

The Raiders are 36-35 overall against WPU dating back to 1968. They're 2-4 against the Knights in the tournament, including a title game loss in Portland in 2013. Most recently, SOU won a semifinal game on WPU's home floor in 2015, and WPU won a semifinal game in Ashland in '16.

SOU POSTSEASON HISTORY: As the No. 6 seed last year, the Raiders won drama-packed road games at Northwest Christian and Corban to advance to the tournament final for the sixth time before their season was ended by back-to-back champion College of Idaho. They last won the title in 2005 and have dropped three championship road games in the last seven years. They're in the postseason for the 10th year in a row, and are on the verge of their ninth all-time national tournament appearance and fourth in the last eight seasons.

BRIEFLY:

• SOU is 10-1 at Lithia Motors Pavilion, working on a plus-18 average margin and a seven-game winning streak in Ashland. In the last five seasons combined, the Raiders are 50-12 at home.
• Over the weekend, the Raiders totaled 50 field goals made and 37 assists against Multnomah, and 17 3-point makes against Warner Pacific – all single-game team highs over Brian McDermott's 24 seasons as head coach. In conference play, their offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) of 116 ended up second to Oregon Tech's 121, and their defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 96 was second to College of Idaho's 89.
• In CCC games, Teron Bradford finished first in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4-to-1) and Aaron Borich was second in assists per game (5.2). On the overall national leaderboard, SOU has moved up to No. 2 in assists per game at 20.4 (trailing only Allen (S.C.)'s 22.0), No. 2 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7-to-1) and 11th in rebounding margin (plus-8.1).
• SOU's seniors continue to ascend in the school's record book: Hoffman is now 12th in career points (1,443, nine away from breaking into the top-10), ninth in rebounds (724) and ninth in 3-point makes (150); Jordan Hunt is 13th in points (1,430), eighth in rebounds (726) and second in blocked shots (157); Borich is ninth in assists (277); and Conor Carroll is 10th in 3-point makes (134). This season, six Raider seniors have accounted for 64 percent of the team's total points.
• Hunt's 24 points Friday marked a career high, but he's scored 20 or more 12 times in his career. His field-goal percentage of 59.5 is the 11th-highest in the country.

ABOUT WARNER PACIFIC:

• Ninth-year head coach Jared Valentine has led the Knights to six national tournament berths, most recently in 2018. The Knights have won the conference tournament three times and haven't missed the postseason since 2004.
• Kadeem Strickland, a junior transfer from Portland C.C., has come on to lead the Knights at 15 points per game on a 38-percent mark from 3. Jalen Ballard (8.1 points, 2.9 assists) joins him in the backcourt, and Bosco and Miles Brown (12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds) for a stellar frontcourt pairing.
• WPU is posting 11.2 makes per game from 3-point range, sixth-most in the NAIA.
• The Knights have lost six of their last eight coming into the matchup and allowed 90-plus points in four of their last five.