KIRKLAND, Wash. – Gio Evanson's transformation into one of the Cascade Conference's premier closers came in handy again for Southern Oregon in a 74-66 win against Northwest (Wash.) on Saturday night at Brodin Pavilion.

Evanson scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half and had five steals without a turnover as the Raiders (13-7 overall, 10-2 CCC) completed a sweep of the road trip to remain tied for first place. The sophomore guard's floater inside with 7:15 left gave SOU the lead for good, 59-58, and he shut the door on the Eagles (6-14, 3-9) by knocking down three of his five 3-pointers in the final four minutes.

The Raiders have played 11 consecutive clutch games (defined as being within five points in the last five minutes) and won nine of them. They were up two on the Eagles with 1:45 to play when Evanson collected the ball a few feet beyond the arc and connected as the shot clock expired. Their lead was three with 37 seconds remaining when he delivered again, hitting a step-back triple from the wing to seal the win.

Over his last 10 games – a stretch that includes 30-point outburst at Walla Walla, a 25-point effort in an overtime win against Bushnell, and a game-winning 3-pointer against Oregon Tech – Evanson has averaged 18.4 points and shot 48% from downtown. He ended up 10-of-22 from the field and 5-of-11 from 3 against the Eagles.

Elijah Jackson, his all-star backcourt mate, was limited by foul trouble but managed 11 points. Bryce Dyer had eight points, six rebounds and three steals, and Jace Anderson played big down the stretch to finish with eight points and two steals.

A Brady Rice 3-pointer gave SOU its largest lead, 39-26, at the 1:30 mark of the first half, but Northwest got right back in the game with a 17-2 run that extended to the 15-minute mark of the second. The teams traded blows the rest of the way, and the Raiders prevailed thanks in large part to a 21-point advantage from 3-point range, where they finished 11-of-28.

Lucius Fox led four Eagles in double figures with 18 points.

With eight games left in the regular season, the Raiders are tied with Oregon Tech atop the standings and one game up on College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon and Lewis-Clark State. LC State is the only one of the other top-five teams they'll host in the second half, matching up at 5 p.m. next Saturday in Ashland. Last-place Walla Walla (Wash.) comes to town at 2 p.m. Friday.