ASHLAND – Considering recent letdowns and the need to take advantage of its home court, Saturday's game was as close to a must-win as Southern Oregon could get in the first week of January. Against second-place Corban, the Raiders duly responded.

SOU climbed back over .500 in the Cascade Conference with a 72-62 win over the Warriors at Lithia Motors Pavilion, holding them to a season-worst 29-percent mark from the field and 20 points below their average.

Senior guard Will Graves, a regular in the starting lineup, came off the bench and answered with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. One of his four 3-pointers put the Raiders a lead they never relinquished with 12:29 left to play, and another – beyond 30 feet deep at the end of the shot clock – gave them a 58-51 edge and all the momentum they needed with seven minutes left. They were firmly in control the rest of the way.

SOU improved to 9-6 overall and 5-4 in conference play, salvaging a weekend split after losing in the final seconds Friday to Bushnell. The Warriors saw their winning streak end at five games, dipping to 11-4 and 7-2.

The Warriors were out of sorts throughout against a zone defense, shooting 9-of-28 from 3 and not much better – 12-of-44 – from inside arc. Their leading scorer on the season, forward Darius Henderson, was limited to 10 points and needed 13 attempts along with a couple trips to the line to get there. Their second-leading scorer, Mateo Escheik, shot 4-of-19.

The Raiders clung to a 35-33 advantage in the first half, where senior guard Atmar Mundu totaled 10 of his 17 points. Junior forward Dominic McGarvey came up big with 11 points and 12 rebounds, logging his second double-double of the season by scoring nine in the second half. He pulled down 23 rebounds on the weekend.

Josh Meyer provided nine points, nine rebounds and four assists. His clutch 3-pointer from the corner, set up by a Tez Allen dish, extended SOU's edge to 10 points at the six-minute mark.

Grants Pass native Taylor Anderson had team-highs of 12 points and five assists for Corban.

Before ending the month with a five-game homestand, the Raiders will go on the road next week to face Walla Walla (Wash.) (0-8 CCC) and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (3-6 CCC).