ASHLAND –
Elijah Jackson's second-half takeover and
Bryce Dyer's 10th double-double enabled Southern Oregon to secure the Cascade Conference's No. 4 seed with an 89-76 win over Multnomah in the regular-season finale Saturday evening at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
The result gave the Raiders (19-9 overall, 14-8 CCC) homecourt advantage in Tuesday's 7 p.m. quarterfinal round of the CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank against No. 5 seed Eastern Oregon. The Lions (16-11, 12-10) dropped to the No. 7 seed and will visit Oregon Tech.
Jackson punctuated a convincing All-CCC campaign with a perfect 8-of-8 second half that included three 3-pointers. It gave the veteran guard 26 points, five assists and three steals on the night – an effort complemented by Dyer's 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. The duo led SOU to a 57% mark from the field.
The Raiders' lead was 54-52 with 15 minutes remaining when
Khalil Chatman triggered an 8-0 surge by finishing
Mason Whittaker's pass inside. Dyer and Jackson followed with back-to-back 3s, and, after the Lions cut the deficit to six points a couple minutes later, Jackson went on a personal 8-2 run with a finish at the basket, a steal and a pair of triples.
Over the final five games of the regular season, Jackson averaged 21.2 points on 66% shooting from the field and 52% beyond the arc.
He and the Raiders will be home for the CCC quarterfinals for the third year in a row. They've advanced to the semifinals each of the last six postseasons.
Chatman marked his senior night with one of his most well-rounded performances of the season, totaling 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Joe Juhala was perfect on three attempts with two 3s to score 11 points,
Liam Clark shot 4-of-5 to score nine, and
Mason Whittaker had seven assists.
SOU also got a boost from redshirt
Jace Anderson, who was 4-of-7 with nine points and four boards in a spot appearance. With under five minutes left, he had a dunk and a three-point play on consecutive possessions to put the Lions away.
Multnomah, which defeated SOU 83-78 on Jan. 10 in Portland, got a team-high 14 points from Kadeem Nelson.