CCC Tournament Preview

EUGENE, Ore. – The Bushnell men's basketball will open the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament on Wednesday on the road, traveling to face off against Southern Oregon University.
 
The Beacons (13-14, 10-10 CCC) tied for sixth-place in the CCC and earned the No. 6 seed for the eight-team tournament while Southern Oregon (17-11, 14-6) emerged from the three-way tie for third place to claim the No. 3 seed.
 
The teams will face off for the third time this season, with SOU sweeping the regular-season home-and-home series. The first time the teams met in Ashland was back on December 20 when the Raiders prevailed 77-67. SOU needed a big second-half comeback and overtime to pull off the win.
 
The Beacons had led the contest 58-48 with eight minutes remaining in regulation only to see the Raiders come all the way back with a 12-0 run. The game would see the lead change hands four more times in the final three minutes, and Kaleb Burnett would up forcing overtime for the Beacons as he drove the lane to score with 25 seconds remaining to knot the contest at 65-65. It was all SOU in the extra session as they scored the first eight points and held Bushnell without a field goal over the five-minute stretch.
 
The teams met again in Eugene on February 6, with the Raiders claiming a 78-65 victory. The Beacons out-scored the Raiders 42-40 in the second half, but couldn't overcome a 16-point halftime deficit as Southern Oregon shot 51% on the night with 11 three-pointers.
 
The Beacons and Raiders have a long history, with SOU holding a 37-28 advantage in the all-time series, dating back to 1980. The Beacons, however, have an 18-16 advantage since joining the Cascade Conference in 2007.
 
The teams have played nine over-time games in their history and this will be their fourth CCC-tournament clash. SOU has won the last two post-season duels, most recently a 78-77 win in Eugene in 2019. The Raiders have also won seven straight head-to-head meetings.
 
MEET THE BEACONS
 
Bushnell has been up-and-down all season, and fittingly have split their last ten games, 5-5. The Beacons rank fourth in the CCC in scoring, averaging 77.8 points per game, and they are seventh defensively, allowing 77.1 ppg. Bushnell's up-tempo style has led to a conference-leading 66.2 field-goal attempts per game, along with 13.2 offensive boards per contest which also leads the CCC. 
 
The Bushnell offense has been a two-headed monster this season with Kaleb Burnett and Cory Johnson threatening to become the first Bushnell pair to each score over 500 points since 2014.
 
Burnett ranks second in the CCC in scoring and rebounding, averaging 18.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Johnson is fourth in scoring, averaging 17.5 ppg, and closed the regular season on a tear, averaging nearly 30 points per game over the final four games while earning back-to-back CCC Player of the Week honors.
 
MEET THE RAIDERS
 
Southern Oregon heads into the post season having dropped three of their last five games. The rank seventh in the CCC in scoring (74.7 ppg) and third in conference on the defensive side of the ball with just 71.5 points-per-game allowed. The Raiders have also been one of the top rebounding defenses in the conference, limiting opponents to just 31.6 rebounds per game.
 
Elijah Jackson leads the team and is ranked 11th in the CCC in scoring, averaging 15.1 points game. Gio Evanson is close behind with 14.4 ppg.
 
TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK 

The other three games in the CCC men's basketball quarterfinals features No. 1 seed Lewis-Clark State playing host to No. 8 Northwest, No. 2 Eastern Oregon hosting No. 7 Corban, and No. 4 Oregon Tech hosting No. 5 College of Idaho.
 
The tournament is a straight bracket format, so Bushnell knows that with a victory they will play the winner of the Eastern Oregon – Corban contest. If Bushnell and Corban both win, the Beacons will host that semifinal game on Saturday, February 28 at 7:00 pm.