*This story has been updated to reflect Tuesday's game against Oregon Tech being postponed. That game has been rescheduled for Feb. 18.

RAIDER MEN'S BASKETBALL (14-7, 9-6 CCC)
7:30 p.m. Friday – vs. Bushnell (10-12, 6-10) | Live Stats
5 p.m. Saturday – vs. Corban (12-10, 10-6) | Live Stats
TICKETS | LIVE STREAMS

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon men's basketball team has righted the ship with nine wins in its last 11 games, setting the stage for another critical homestand with major playoff implications.

The Raiders (14-7 overall, 9-6 Cascade Conference), whose game scheduled for Tuesday against No. 24 Oregon Tech has been postponed until Feb. 18, start with a dangerous Bushnell (10-12, 6-10) squad at 7:30 p.m. Friday inside Lithia Motors Pavilion. At 5 p.m. Saturday they host Corban (12-10, 10-6), which enters the week tied in the loss column with SOU for fourth place.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders completed a weekend sweep in Washington, winning 80-76 at Northwest and 96-73 at Evergreen. Northwest – which went on to upset Oregon Tech, 80-78, a night later – had a 3-point attempt for the lead in the closing seconds, but it rimmed off as SOU escaped after eight ties and nine lead changes in the second half alone. Mason Whittaker had 16 points and seven rebounds, Gabe Reichle scored 15, and Jack Chlumak delivered 10 of his 13 in the second half off the bench. An early 18-point Raiders lead dwindled to 65-58 at Evergreen when they launched a 22-0 run by making eight consecutive field-goal tries. Reichle led five players in double figures with 17 points as SOU shot 53% from the field, its best clip since November.

BRIEFLY:

• Mason Whittaker is in the midst of the best stretch of his career, averaging 13.8 points on 16-of-36 shooting from 3 (44.4%) over the last five games. A 36.6% lifetime shooter from beyond the arc, he made his 100th career 3 over the weekend.
• Gabe Reichle's production has also picked up of late. The graduate transfer has averaged 11.4 points over his last seven outings, shooting 48% from the field and 47% from 3 during the stretch.
• Ten different Raiders have led the team in scoring in at least one game. They're the only team without a top-15 scorer in CCC play – Elijah Jackson is 19th on the leaderboard at 12.6 points – but their balance is still producing the NAIA's 31st-best offensive rating (113.0 points/100 possessions).
• Sophomore forward Bryce Dyer is up to six double-doubles, and he has missed double-doubles by one point or one rebound on four occasions. The North Medford product remains on top of the CCC-only rebounds leaderboard at 9.4 per game, attempting to become the first Raider to finish No. 1 in that category since Shea Washington in 2005-06. He is also shooting 53% from the field, the eighth-best mark among CCC players averaging at least 10 points (10.5).
• The 3-point line continues to be a major story on both ends. In CCC play, the Raiders lead the league in 3-point attempts (27.6) and accuracy (36.9%) offensively, and they lead the league in attempts against (19.9) while ranking second in opponents' accuracy (28.9%) defensively. They have still yet to make fewer 3s than an opponent in 32 consecutive games dating back to last season.
• The Raiders have played seven CCC games decided by five or fewer points. No other CCC team has played more than six.
• Jack Chlumak is emerging as a weapon off the bench, going 14-of-21 with averages of 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in his last four games. So is Liam Clark, who averaged 10.0 points on 8-of-13 shooting and 4.5 rebounds over the weekend. 
• SOU is 27-8 at home under third-year coach Matt Zosel and 5-1 this season. Dating back to last year, the Raiders have won 12 of their last 14 at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

ABOUT BUSHNELL: The Beacons are arguably the CCC's hardest team to predict: They endured a six-game losing streak early in the conference schedule, followed that with a four-game winning streak that started with a shocking upset at then-No. 15 Lewis-Clark State, turned around to lose three more in a row, and ended that skid with a quality win over Eastern Oregon. They score 80 points per game, led by forward Cory Johnson (16.2 points, 7.7 rebounds) and league-leading 3-point shooter Squeeky Johnson (12.2 points), but surrender the third-most points (81.0) and second-highest field-goal percentage (47.4) of any team in CCC play. They lost 71-64 to SOU on Dec. 21 on a game-ending 11-1 run, and the Raiders have won nine of the last 11 in a series that they lead 37-28.

ABOUT CORBAN: The Warriors started 6-1 in CCC play and demonstrated a high ceiling in becoming the first (and only) team to knock off College of Idaho. But they've lost three in a row, a streak that started with a surprising 22-point loss at ninth-place Warner Pacific. Shutting down their backcourt is key: it features Spivey Word (15.4 points, 42-of-112 3FG) and Luc Krystkowiak (12.4 points, 55% FG, 6.5 rebounds), who combined for 38 in Corban's 67-62 defeat of SOU on Dec. 20. They're 2-8 when they give up 70 or more points. The Raiders are 32-28 all-time against Corban and have only been swept in a regular-season series once in the last 20 years.