EUGENE, Ore. – To call it the biggest regular season home game in school history doesn't do it justice. The Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season championship will be on the line on Friday night when No. 12 Northwest Christian University plays host to No. 11 Southern Oregon.  
 
A share of the crown is still in play. The regular season doesn't wrap until Saturday when NCU hosts Oregon Tech (20-8, 10-8) and the Raiders travel to Corban (15-11, 9-9). But if the Raiders win on Friday, they'll own the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping the season series after winning the first matchup, 80-75, on December 6 in Ashland. If the Beacons win, they would take a more complicated tiebreaker that, essentially, comes down to SOU's loss to Eastern Oregon, a team that NCU swept in a pair of one-point games.
 
The Beacons had a one-game lead atop the standings until Saturday's 78-72 setback at third-place Warner pacific. It ended a 16-game winning streak and was their first loss since they went down 69 days earlier at SOU. The Raiders now own the league's longest active winning streak at eight games.
 
For Southern Oregon it would be the first regular season championship in 11 years. NCU has never won the Cascade Conference title, and hasn't won a conference championship at any level since claiming the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Conference crown in 1982, a span of 34 years.
 
SOU has gotten to this point with a bit of theatrics, playing clutch basketball with an 11-0 conference record in games that have been within five points in the final five minutes. They have also been the comeback kids of the CCC, winning an astounding ten games in which they trailed at halftime.
 
The Beacons are no strangers to drama either. Kenny Blackwell's three-pointer with one second left made them 68-67 winners over EOU on December 19, Javonte Byrd's 3-pointer with one second left made them 63-60 winnings at Corban on December 19 and Byrd scored five points in the final three seconds for a 77-76 victory at Eastern Oregon on January 22.
 
Adding another layer of drama is the fact that these two teams have developed quite a rivalry over the past three years, since Luke Jackson became the Beacons head coach. NCU won the first five times they faced off including a win in Ashland in the first-round of the 2014 CCC tournament that eventually propelled the Beacons to an NAIA tournament appearance. The Beacons claimed the regular season sweep last year before dropping a two-overtime heartbreaker in Ashland in the playoffs. SOU also won the first meeting this season.
 
They might have never been more closely matched then they are this season. Not only do the teams hold identical overall and conference records, the stats show even more similarities. NCU averages 83.5 ppg, SOU averages 82.7. The Beacons allow just 69.6 points per game on defense while the Raiders allow just 74.9. Both teams shoot better than 48% from the field. NCU hits 39% of their three-pointers while Southern hits 38%.

With another close game expected, the difference might come in another one of their similarities: free throw shooting. This year has been less than stellar for both programs from the charity stripe where Southern Oregon shoots 66.1% and Northwest Christian shoots 65.7%, and whoever can hit their free throws will have a distinct advantage in the championship-deciding affair.
 
Six Beacon players are averaging at least 9.5 points per game; starters Javonte Byrd (14.8), Omar Richards (12.9), Kenny Blackwell (10.6), Austin Kuemper (10.5), and Jack Hackman (10.2) along with sixth-man Jay Mayernik (9.5). For Southern Oregon, four players averaging in double-figures, led by Ben DeSaulnier at 17.8 and Jordan West at 16.2. Joel Spear averages 13.2 ppg and leads the Cascade Conference in assists (6.1 apg).
 
The Beacons might also have the game's secret weapon on their hands in the form of senior Javonte Byrd (pictured, right). In his first ever game against Southern Oregon, Byrd scored 35 points and set a school record with nine 3-pointers. All he has done since is averaged 21 points per game against the Raiders and hit 23 trifectas.
 
SOU, however, hasn't been without a Beacon-killer of their own. Before graduating at the end of last season it was Eric Thompson, averaging 19 points per game. Over the past four meetings, however, Australian Jordan West (pictured, left) has emerged as the most consistent threat, scoring 16, 13, 20, and 12 respectively.
 
No matter what happens this weekend, NCU is assured no worse than the No. 3 seed in the eight-team CCC tournament, meaning they are guaranteed to host a playoff game for the first time in school history at 7 p.m. next Wednesday night. The Beacons also need just one win or one Warner Pac loss this weekend to insure a top-two seed and two rounds worth of home-court advantage.
 
The Cascade Collegiate Conference is awarded two automatic bids to the NAIA Championships. The first goes to the regular season champion and the second goes to the tournament champion. If the regular-season champ also wins the tournament, the second automatic bid goes to the No. 2 seed. Without an automatic bid, NCU would be reliant upon an at-large bid to the tourney which is more than likely with the current resume.