Live Stats – Live Video (PPV) – Live Audio (Free)
An exciting 2012-13 Cascade Conference men’s basketball season comes to a close tonight as third-seed Southern Oregon faces off with top-seed Warner Pacific for the 2013 CCC Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship on Bart Valentine Court in Portland, Ore.
#1 Warner Pacific 63, #5 Northwest 58
Top-ranked Warner Pacific held a normally strong-shooting Northwest team to just nine field goals in the second half as the Knights advanced to the conference title game behind 24-of-47 shooting for 51.1%.
WPC was led by 17 points off the bench from Coletun Tarr. Josh Black put up just two points but finished with 11 assists as the Knights collected their 25th win of the year.
#3 Southern Oregon 89, #2 Eastern Oregon 71
Southern Oregon used a pair of 20-point performances from David Sturner and Jeff Bush to get past second-seed Eastern Oregon in the semifinal round of the conference tournament. The Raiders, who scored 50 points in each half in Wednesday’s first round game against Concordia, had another balanced effort to collect an automatic qualifier to the 2013 NAIA DII Men’s Basketball Championship.
Bush and Sturner led SOU with the 20 points each, with Sturner also adding 11 rebounds for the double-double. Eric Thompson nearly joined them in the 20-point club, posting 18 points and 10 rebounds for his own double-double. Kyle Tedder rounded out the Raiders in double-digit scoring, finishing with 13 points on the night.
The Match-Up
Fans should be in for a good game as Southern Oregon and Warner Pacific split their regular season series. The Knights collected a 91-88 overtime win on Dec. 22 in Portland while SOU earned the 97-82 win on Jan. 25 in Ashland.
SOU and WPC have only met in the postseason once since 2008 as Warner Pacific earned an 82-78 home win over Southern last season in the first round of the conference tournament.