CALDWELL, Idaho – Another Gio Evanson signature moment in front of a stunned crowd at Elgin Baylor Arena made Southern Oregon's postseason outlook a whole lot rosier on Saturday.

The Raiders hopped on the back of their breakout sophomore star and won at College of Idaho for the first time in 10 years, 73-67, on the final night of the Cascade Conference regular season. Evanson finished with 29 points after an all-timer of a second half in which he scored 25 on eight field-goal attempts, hit all five of his 3-point tries, and stuck the Yotes with back-to-back daggers in the game's final moments.

The win made SOU 17-11 overall and 14-6 in the CCC, forcing a three-way tie for third place with C of I and Oregon Tech. The Raiders prevailed in the tiebreaker by going 3-1 in head-to-head matchups with those teams to claim the No. 3 seed, putting them at home in Wednesday's CCC Tournament quarterfinal round against No. 6 seed Bushnell. A loss would have sent them to OIT.

The night appeared headed that way when the Yotes (19-9, 14-6) matched their largest lead at 63-57 with 5:22 remaining. Five quick points from Evanson left the Raiders down three before Bryce Dyer's 3-pointer beat the shot-clock buzzer to tie the game at 65-all with 3:16 remaining. Seconds later, Utrillo Morris took the lead back for C of I at the free-throw line.

With his team down 67-65, Evanson nailed a step-back 3 from the wing that gave the Raiders their first lead of the half at the 1:16 mark. Following a defensive stop, he brought the shot clock down and launched off the dribble from six feet behind the 3-point line as it expired. With 18 second to go, the heave dropped straight through.

Including postseason action, the Raiders had lost 13 consecutive games in Caldwell.

Their big men stepped up alongside Evanson to get them over the hump. Sophomore forward Jace Anderson had 10 points and nine rebounds, and senior forward Joe Juhala posted nine points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Dyer chipped in eight points and seven boards.

The Yotes, who were coming off a 23-point win against OIT, were led by Morris' 19 points. Their top scorer on the season, Dougie Peoples, was limited to two buckets.

Evanson averaged 28 points on the trip and has now gone for 20-plus seven times on the season. He was 9-of-14 in all from the field and 6-of-6 at the line.

Wednesday's quarterfinal against Bushnell will tip off at 7 p.m. inside Lithia Motors Pavilion. The winner will play in the semifinals on Saturday.

Eastern Oregon and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) finished as regular season co-champions, but final seedings were still pending the Corban-Walla Walla outcome at time of publication.