CCC CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
WEDNESDAY – QUARTERFINALS
6 p.m. – (8) Multnomah (13-17, 9-13) at (1) College of Idaho (26-4, 20-2)
7 p.m. – (7) Warner Pacific (14-16, 10-12) at (2) Oregon Tech (21-9, 18-4)
7 p.m. – (6) Eastern Oregon (18-12, 12-10) at (3) Lewis-Clark State (21-9, 14-8)
7 p.m. – (5) Southern Oregon (16-14, 13-9) at (4) Corban (19-11, 14-8)
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 – The Southern Oregon men's basketball team is in win-or-go-home mode from here on out as the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank begin Wednesday with the quarterfinal round.

To keep their season alive, the No. 5-seeded Raiders (16-14 overall) first have to go through fourth-seeded Corban (19-11) at 7 p.m. inside the CE Jeffers Sports Center. The teams' last five matchups in Salem have produced three overtime sessions and two games decided at the buzzer in regulation.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Ninth-ranked College of Idaho cruised to the regular season title, earning the CCC's first automatic bid to the 64-team NAIA National Tournament. The second bid goes to the tournament champion unless C of I prevails again, in which case it will drop to No. 2 seed Oregon Tech. The CCC Tournament is not bracketed; the highest remaining seed will host the lowest remaining in Saturday's 7 p.m. semifinals, and the championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

SOU finished the regular season a game behind Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and Corban, which tied for third in the standings. Out of contention for an at-large bid, the Raiders must play their way into the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. That will comprise 16 four-team tournaments on campus sites March 11-12, and the winners will advance to the final site in Kansas City, Mo., March 17-22.

SOU VS. CORBAN HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Raiders played one of their most complete games of the season to defeat the Warriors 75-69 on Dec. 18 in Ashland, getting 23 points from guard Atmar Mundu in his first start and 20 points and eight rebounds from forward Josh Meyer. They fell 87-80 in overtime on Feb. 4 in Salem after taking the lead on K'wan Carter's putback with 28 seconds left in regulation. Psalm Maduakor forced a tie with two free throws, and guards Jordan Newt (22 points) and Kendall Moore (16 points) took over with all 15 of the Warriors' points in OT.

The Raiders are 50-46 all-time against the Warriors and have taken three consecutive CCC Tournament matchups. The last was a 2019 semifinal affair in Salem that saw SOU celebrate a 76-74 win after Aaron Borich, now an assistant on the SOU staff, hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

SOU POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Raiders are making their 11th consecutive postseason appearance. They've won five of their last six CCC quarterfinal games and have advanced to the championship game six times, winning the whole thing most recently in 2005. They've made nine NAIA National Tournament appearances overall, including four in the last decade.

BRIEFLY:

• SOU is 5-9 on the road after dropping six of its last seven away games. Each of the Raiders' last five losses were decided by six points or less, or in overtime.
• The Raiders boasted two of the top-12 scorers in CCC play in Josh Meyer (14.2 points/game) and Atmar Mundu (14.1). Meyer also ranked third in rebounds (9.3), while Mundu shot 50 percent from the field, ranked fifth in 3-point percentage (42.9) and seventh in free-throw percentage (81.3).
• K'wan Carter had a big finish to the regular season, averaging 14.5 points on 50-percent shooting over SOU's last eight games. He'd posted 7.6 points per game prior to that stretch.
• Tez Allen, Jayson McMillan and Jake Virga are the only Raiders with previous postseason experience. Allen – the 2021 CCC Defensive Player of the Spring – was the conference's only double-figure scorer (11.4 points) to also rank among the top-10 in rebounds (7.2), assists (4.1) and steals (1.5). Virga's 45-percent mark from 3-point range ranked third among CCC players.

ABOUT CORBAN: The Warriors enter Wednesday playing their best basketball of the season with a 5-1 record this month and a 12-3 mark since dropping five of their first seven CCC games. They're fueled by backcourt play, with four guards averaging double-figure scoring: Kendall Moore (11.8), Jordan Newt (11.4), Mateo Escheik (10.1) and Taylor Anderson (10.0). It's been six games since they gave up more than 68 points, and they finished on top of the CCC in steals per game (9.0) and turnover margin (plus-6.7).