7:30 p.m. Friday – Bushnell at SOU | Live Stats
5 p.m. Saturday – Corban at SOU | Live Stats
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ASHLAND – An up-and-down start on the road has made it clear that Southern Oregon's chances of competing for a top spot in the Cascade Conference standings will depend on the team's ability to protect home court. The Raiders will get seven chances in January, starting this weekend against Bushnell and Corban.

Back at Lithia Motors Pavilion for the first time in a few weeks, the Raiders (8-5 overall, 4-3 CCC) play the Beacons (5-8, 3-4) at 7:30 p.m. Friday and the streaking Warriors (10-3, 6-1) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The matchups promise offensive fireworks: Bushnell is the top-scoring team overall in the conference, Corban is the top-scoring team in CCC games, and SOU boasts the 20th-best offensive efficiency rating out of 234 NAIA teams.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: A post-holiday letdown awaited the Raiders last Friday at Multnomah, where they fell 71-65 after jumping out to a nine-point lead that was promptly erased by the Lions' 24-6 run to end the first half. Outside of Atmar Mundu, who scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, the Raiders hit at just 26 percent from the field on the heels of five consecutive outings in which they scored at least 80 points. Their offense stabilized in Saturday's 95-80 win at Warner Pacific. They overcame a 47-32 deficit in the first half (where the Knights shot 71 percent) by putting five players in double figures, led by Mundu's 24 points, with a 54-percent clip from the field.

BRIEFLY:

• SOU's average of 85.2 points per game is the fourth-highest in program history. No other Raider team has averaged 85 or more since 1990-91.
• Atmar Mundu comes into the weekend hot with three straight 20-point games and five 3-point makes in each of them on 60-percent accuracy. He joined Aaron Borich and Kyle Tedder as the only Raiders with at least five triples in three consecutive outings in the last decade. On the season, Mundu is fourth among CCC players in points per game (18.4), third in 3-point percentage (51.4) and 13th in field-goal perentage (51.9). The senior has hit 38 3-pointers; no one else among the top-five in percentage has hit more than 15.
• Sophomore forward Joe Juhala earned his first start last week and came through with 27 points and 6-of-10 shooting from 3 over the two-game trip. He's averaged 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in SOU's last five games after averaging 1.8 and 2.0 in the first eight.
• Will Graves is among the CCC's top-20 in five major statistical categories: points per game (12.8, 19th), free-throw percentage (87.1, 6th), steals per game (1.5, 8th), 3-point makes per game (1.8, 12th), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5-to-1, 14th). The senior guard has scored in double figures five of SOU's last six games and made more than half of his attempts in each of those.
• At 3.3 assists per game in conference play, Tez Allen is sixth in the CCC. This is the fourth consecutive season in which he's ranked among the top-10, and his career total of 425 is the fifth-highest in SOU history. During the last homestand, he became the 24th player to join the Raiders' 1,000-point club.
• Cole McAninch continues to impress off the bench, giving the Raiders 10.5 points per game on 15-of-22 accuracy over the last four. His field-goal percentage (57.8) is the best on the team.
• Since moving into Lithia Motors Pavilion in 2018-19, the Raiders are 39-13 overall at home and 35-9 in conference games.

ABOUT BUSHNELL: The Beacons appear to be past an early seven-game losing streak, having won three of four since. They average better than 87 points per game, buoyed by three-time All-CCC guard Stevie Schlabach (15.9 points, 53% FG) and newcomer Spencer Hoffman, the reigning NAIA Player of the Week. Hoffman, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Colorado Christian, is posting 18.2 points and 9.5 rebounds, and in last week's sweep of Evergreen and Northwest combined for 41 points and 26 rebounds. Junior transfer Trevon Richmond (11.7 points) is helping the Beacons to the NAIA's 31st-best offensive rating at 111.9 points per 100 possessions. SOU has won five of the last six matchups and is 33-27 in the all-time series, though Bushnell stole a 76-71 victory last season in Ashland.

ABOUT CORBAN: The Warriors profile as a potential Top 25 team – they're 15th in the NAIA in defensive rating (88.5 points allowed/100 possessions), 30th in offensive rating (112.1 points/100 possessions), and 12th in net rating – and recent results are backing that up. They've won six of their last seven, their only loss in that stretch an overtime affair at No. 24 Carroll (Mont.). Darius Henderson, their leading scorer (18.0) and rebounder (7.6), did not appear in their last two outings, but they won handily anyway. Their balanced attack is headed by a backcourt of Mateo Escheik (10.8 points, 4.9 rebounds), Taylor Anderson (10.5 points, 4.3 assists) and Collin Warmouth (9.7 points, 43% 3FG) with a variety of weapons. Defensively, opponents are shooting just 42 percent against them. SOU won two of three matchups last year – including a 67-65 CCC quarterfinal decision – and is 51-46 overall in the series with an 18-5 record over the last decade.