RAIDER MEN'S BASKETBALL (15-10, 12-5 CCC)
5 p.m. Saturday – vs. Warner Pacific (5-19, 1-15)
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ASHLAND – With regard to its NAIA Tournament prospects, the Southern Oregon men's basketball team is running out of margin for error entering its final scheduled home game and the last two weekends of the Cascade Conference regular season.

The Raiders (15-10 overall, 12-5 CCC) will try to get back on track as they welcome Warner Pacific (5-19, 1-15) to Lithia Motors Pavilion at 5 p.m. Saturday. Three losses in their last four games have dropped them from first place to fifth in the standings, but memories of last year's late-season surge provide reason to believe it's not too late to right the ship.

WHERE THEY STAND: At 12-5 in conference play, the Raiders have the same CCC record now as they did through the same matchups last season on their way to receiving an at-large national tournament bid. The difference between now and then – when they made a run to the quarterfinal round of the 64-team field as a No. 11 seed – is their overall résumé, which took a hit during a 3-5 non-conference slate compared to last year's 5-1 non-conference mark. Though there aren't any bad losses on their ledger, the double-digit loss total will be an eyesore to the NAIA selection committee in a conference with only one Top 25 team.

All of which is to say: anything short of a 3-0 finish to the regular season likely won't be good enough for an at-large bid. The Raiders are currently No. 52 in the RPI rankings, and after hosting WPU on Saturday they'll get shots at high-quality road wins next week at Eastern Oregon (13-3 CCC) and College of Idaho (12-4 CCC). If they falter on that trip, their last remaining path to the 64-team bracket is through the CCC Tournament, set for Feb. 25 (quarterfinals), Feb. 28 (semifinals) and March 3 (finals). The champion will receive the conference's second automatic national bid.

SENIOR DAY: The Raiders will honor six players as part of Saturday's senior recognition ceremony: Jacob Axmaker, Jack Chlumak, Emmett Fenz, Elijah Jackson, Joe Juhala and Trey Neff. Axmaker, a 41% 3-point shooter at SOU, and Chlumak a top reserve who has also made nine starts for the Raiders, joined SOU prior to the most improbable postseason run in team history last season. Fenz, a sophomore in terms of athletic eligibility, will graduate early after establishing himself as a dependable floor-spacer (36% 3FG). Neff, a North Medford product, has played his best basketball of late in his first season with the team, hitting 10-of-20 attempts from 3 over his last night outings.

Jackson and Juhala have been roster staples since arriving during the COVID-abbreviated 2020-21 season and both using subsequent redshirts. Jackson, a guard from Fallon, Nev., scored 310 points over his first 56 games before compiling 902 points across 59 games over the last two years, giving him the 19th-highest total (1,212) in program history. He was an All-CCC selection in 2024-25 and is on his way to the same honor this year, ranking eighth in points (15.8) and ninth in assists (3.0) on the conference leaderboard. Juhala has accumulated 787 points and 437 rebounds in his career, scoring in double figures 34 times. The West Linn native was instrumental off the bench in the 2025 postseason, averaging 10 points on 51% shooting.

ABOUT WARNER PAC: The Knights have been officially eliminated from postseason contention but gave SOU trouble on Jan. 15 in Portland. The Raiders won, 67-61, but trailed by eight with nine minutes left and had to close the game on a 17-4 run behind Jackson's 19 points. The Knights are averaging under 70 points on 42% shooting as a team and have lost 21 consecutive CCC games against SOU. They picked up their lone conference win against Walla Walla.