ASHLAND – The No. 2-ranked team in the NAIA and defending national champion gave Southern Oregon a platform to make a statement, and it was delivered forcefully on the opening night of Cascade Conference play Friday at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

Khalil Chatman poured in career-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 17 during a second half that the Raiders never trailed in an 81-75 win against College of Idaho (5-2 overall). The upset marked the Yotes' first loss in 30 CCC games dating back to 2021-22; they'd won 64 of their last 66 while claiming the last three full-season conference titles.

The Raiders (3-3) hadn't defeated a top-two team since the Yotes were in town nine years ago. Dominic McGarvey, SOU's other starting forward alongside Chatman, helped them snap an eight-game series losing streak with 17 points. The frontcourt duo combined to shoot 14-of-20 from the field and pushed the Raiders to a 52-percent overall clip.

They led by as many as 11 points in the first half, holding C of I to 17 through the opening 12 minutes, but the Yotes rallied by hammering the glass and SOU needed a last-second jumper from Ethan Blythe to make the score 36-36 at the break.

After McGarvey set up Chatman for a layup on the first possession of the second half, the Raiders maintained control the rest of the way. The Yotes generated one bucket through the first five minutes of the period as SOU staged an 11-4 run; their second was a Drew Wyman 3-pointer that cut the deficit to two, but Blythe responded with a 3 of his own.

McGarvey's three-point play set up by Teron Bradford in transition made it 55-47 at the 11-minute mark. When the Yotes cut the lead to 62-58 with six minutes left, Chatman's put-back followed by a stop and a Bradford floater got it back to eight.

Chatman shot 7-of-8 in the second half. Over the final two minutes, the Raiders hit 9-of-10 free throws to ice the win.

Bradford finished with 12 points, five assists, five rebounds and two steals. His work from the point guard spot helped the Raiders limit their turnover total to 10. Blythe scored 12, Mason Whittaker added seven and three steals, and freshman Gio Evanson debuted with back-to-back 3s in the first half.

The Yotes got 19 points from Johnny Radford off the bench. Their starters, however, were held to 13-of-35 shooting. They needed a 29-15 advantage in second-chance points to hang around.

The Raiders are home again at 5 p.m. Saturday against Eastern Oregon, which has lost 12 of its last 13 games in Ashland. They haven't swept the CI-EOU back-to-back since the 2017-18 season.