CCC CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
TUESDAY – QUARTERFINALS
6 p.m. – (8) Bushnell at (1) College of Idaho
7 p.m. – (7) Multnomah at (2) Oregon Tech
7 p.m. – (6) Corban at (3) Lewis-Clark State
7 p.m. – (5) Eastern Oregon at (4) Southern Oregon
FRIDAY – SEMIFINALS
7 p.m. – Bushnell or C of I vs. EOU or SOU
7 p.m. – Multnomah or OIT vs. Corban or LCSC
MARCH 3 – CHAMPIONSHIP
7 p.m. – Lowest remaining seed at Highest remaining seed

TICKETS | LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
Note: Regular season ticket passes are not valid for CCC Tournament games. Save $2 per ticket by purchasing online at souraiders.com/tickets.

THE MATCHUP: Two rivals squarely on the NAIA National Tournament bubble enter the quarterfinal round of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank in desperate need of a win to strengthen their respective cases. No. 4 seed Southern Oregon (19-9 overall, 14-8 CCC) hosts No. 5 seed Eastern Oregon (18-10, 13-9) at 7 p.m. Tuesday inside Lithia Motors Pavilion for a rubber match that follows a split of the regular-season series. Bolstered by the conference's top scorer, Garrett Hawkes, the Mountaineers claimed the first matchup 70-67 on Dec. 7 in La Grande, taking the lead on Malachi Afework's three-point play with 1:10 remaining. The Raiders paid them back Jan. 24 in Ashland, 83-69, by keeping EOU at its second-worst field-goal clip of the season (35%) and leading by as many as 22 points late in the contest. SOU is 111-92 in the all-time series and has won 13 of the last 14 matchups in Ashland. The teams' last postseason meeting was a 2023 semifinal in La Grande, which EOU won 78-68.

IF THEY ADVANCE: Whereas the eight-team tournament was formerly re-seeded after the first round, it is bracketed this year for the first time. That means the SOU-EOU winner will advance to play in Friday's semifinals against the winner of a quarterfinal between regular-season champion College of Idaho and No. 8 seed Bushnell. The highest remaining seed of those teams will host that game, which tips off at 7 p.m. local time. The title game, set for March 3, will also be hosted by the highest remaining seed. The tournament champion gets the CCC's second automatic National Tournament bid, unless C of I wins it, in which case the bid slides to No. 2 seed Oregon Tech.

JACKSON ON THE RISE: Elijah Jackson's transformation into one of the CCC's top guards is a major storyline for SOU entering postseason play. The 6-foot-1 senior – who intends to utilize his final year of eligibility next season – put a cherry on top of his big regular-season finish by going 8-of-8 with 19 points in the second half of Saturday's finale, an 89-76 win over Multnomah that clinched the No. 4 seed. He finished the night with 26 points, and over the last five games averaged 21.2 on 66% shooting from the field (42-of-64) and 52% from 3 (14-of-27). He went 15-of-25 in two matchups combined against EOU, posting 19.0 points per game. On the final CCC regular-season leaderboard, he finished 10th in points (14.9), 10th in assists (3.0) and seventh in 3-point makes (2.0) per game.  

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DYER: Bryce Dyer's 19-point, 10-rebound performance Saturday against Multnomah marked his 10th double-double of the season. The sophomore from North Medford High became the third Raider to hit that number in the last decade, joining current assistant coach Josh Meyer (2021-22) and All-American Eric Thompson (2014-15). He recorded four of those double-doubles in his last five outings to finish second on the conference's rebounding leaderboard at 9.6 per game in CCC play – the highest average for any SOU player since All-American David Sturner averaged 10.4 in 2012-13. His work on the boards helped the Raiders rank first in defensive-rebounding rate (75%) and fourth in offensive-rebounding rate (34%) in conference action. Dyer is also posting 11.0 points on a 55% clip from the field, the best for any Raider averaging double figures in five years.

SOU TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Raiders, appearing in the CCC Tournament for the 14th postseason in a row, have won six consecutive and eight of their last nine quarterfinal games, including all six at home. They last won the tournament in 2005 but have been in the final four times since 2013; only College of Idaho has advanced more in that span. They're seeking their 11th all-time National Tournament berth – and fifth in the last 10 years – having qualified most recently in 2023.

ABOUT EASTERN OREGON: The Mountaineers have the 16th-best offensive rating in the NAIA (115.5 points/100 possessions) – two spots ahead of SOU – and revolve around a pair of versatile wing scorers: the aforementioned Hawkes (18.8 points, 49% FG, 42% 3FG) and TJ Doman (13.4 points, 57% FG). They also have a capable finisher inside in the 6-foot-9 Brennen Newsom (10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 66% FG), as well as a dangerous complementary guard in Malachi Afework (9.2 points, 31-of-73 3FG). All told, they led the conference in field-goal percentage (49.7) and 3-point percentage (38.9) during CCC play. They went 5-6 during the second half of CCC play and dropped five of those games on the road. Against SOU, Hawkes and Doman combined for 34 points on 24 shots in their win and 23 points on 24 shots in their loss.