RAIDER MEN'S BASKETBALL (8-6, 5-1 CCC)
Jan. 9-10 | Ashland, Ore. (Lithia Motors Pavilion) | Tickets
7:30 p.m. Friday – vs. College of Idaho (10-4, 5-1) | Stream | Live Stats
5 p.m. Saturday – vs. Eastern Oregon (10-4, 5-1) | Stream | Live Stats

ASHLAND – What is likely to be the most consequential five-day stretch of the regular season is next for the Southern Oregon men's basketball team, featuring the Raiders' usual circle-the-date Cascade Conference matchups all in a row at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

Standing at 8-6 overall and 5-1 in the CCC, SOU hosts the teams it enters the weekend tied with in second place: defending national champion College of Idaho (10-4, 5-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and Eastern Oregon (10-4, 5-1) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The marquee homestand ends with first-place Oregon Tech (11-3, 6-0) in town at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Raiders are unbeaten at home and have won six of their last seven overall. The last five of those have been "clutch" games, defined as being within five points in the final five minutes.

FREE STREAMING: SOU is offering free live streams of all home events as part of a CCC-wide move to the Urban Edge Network. Fans can watch on the web at UrbanEdgeNetwork.net or download the Urban Edge Network app to watch on mobile devices and Smart TVs.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders did everything but make shots in last Friday's 72-65 loss at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), succumbing to a 20-6 game-ending run by the Warriors in their first CCC setback. After leading most of the night, the Raiders went the last four-plus minutes without a point and shot 5-of-24 from 3-point range, where LC State was a blistering 10-of-14. They recovered a night later with a 92-87 defeat of winless Walla Walla (Wash.) and needed Gio Evanson's career-high 30 points to do it. Brady Rice scored 17 and Elijah Jackson posted 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

BRIEFLY:

• Elijah Jackson became the 27th member of SOU's 1,000-point club last week, bringing his career total to 1,022 with 30 on the road trip. The senior guard has scored in double figures all but one game this season and in 25 of his last 27 dating back to last season. His average of 14.6 ranks 12th in the CCC and he is sixth in assists at 3.1 per game.
• In his last four games, Gio Evanson averaged 22.8 points on 59% shooting from the field and 48% from 3. The sophomore guard scored 20-plus points three times during the breakout stretch after never doing so in the 28 collegiate outings that preceded it. In conference play, his average of 17.0 points ranks ninth.
• Bryce Dyer is the only player in the CCC logging at least eight rebounds per game, sitting on an average of 8.1 that includes 3.4 on the offensive glass. He pulled down 17 offensive rebounds in SOU's last four games and his next double-double will be the 16th of his career.
• Among those taking at least four attempts per game, Brady Rice leads the Raiders in field-goal percentage (56.3) and 3-point percentage (42.9) while ranking second in free-throw percentage (80.5). He averaged 12.6 points over SOU's last five games, a stretch in which he shot 19-of-31 from the field.
• The Raiders are 37-9 at home in four seasons under head coach Matt Zosel. They've won 22 of their last 23 against unranked opponents in Ashland.

ABOUT COLLEGE OF IDAHO: Winners of two of the last three NAIA titles, the Yotes have reloaded after losing five of their top-six players from last year's 35-2 squad. Their lone returning starter, Eugene product Samaje Morgan, is an All-American point guard but has missed the team's last two games, and six of their top-10 in minutes are freshmen. They've won four in a row since falling 87-67 at home to LC State on the opening weekend of CCC play, and their zone defense continues to confound opponents to the tune of 40.7% shooting. Dougie Peoples, a sharpshooting junior guard, is picking up the scoring load with a team-best average of 13.4 points on the season and 25.5 in his last two games, while freshman forward Rey Johnston has come on to average 12.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. They're 66-26 all-time against SOU and their last four losses in the series have occurred in Ashland over the past decade.

ABOUT EASTERN OREGON: The Mountaineers have lost 14 of their last 15 games at SOU and the last six in a row, falling most recently in the quarterfinal round of last year's CCC Tournament. Their struggles in Ashland aside, they've again made themselves one of the conference's most dangerous teams by hitting more 3-pointers (9.8/game) on a higher percentage (39.5) than anyone. Behind transfer guard Eamon Monahan (18.6 points, 58% FG) – the CCC's second-leading scorer and one of four Mountaineers in double figures – they're averaging 87 points with the circuit's second-best offensive rating, trailing only College of Idaho. They took their lone conference loss at C of I last week, 76-71, in a game that was tied with five minutes left.