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Raider men register 20th victory By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN ASHLAND -- The 1999 Cascade Conference men's basketball champions are bracing for a run at the NAIA Division II national title. Southern Oregon University's Raiders had that thought on their minds Saturday night as they throttled Northwest College, 68-47, in their final game of the regular season. The Raiders (20-8) won their seventh straight game and their 11th straight in McNeal Pavilion as they reached 20 wins for the first time since 1988. The Raiders are hoping they also protected their No. 6 position in the national rankings. "That win probably put us in the national tournament," said SOU coach Brian McDermott. "With two wins this weekend, we should probably stay in the No. 6 spot or move up. That should assure us a place in the national tournament as an at-large team if we don't win our conference tournament." SOU won the championship with a 14-2 record. The 14 wins are a conference record. The Raiders wrapped up the Cascade Conference regular-season championship Friday night with a 66-56 victory over Concordia, assuring themselves a first-round bye and home games through the Cascade tournament. The Raiders meet the winner of the Northwest College-Northwest Nazarene first-round game next Saturday night. "We won't settle for anything less than winning a national championship," said sophomore guard Tom Chipps. He scored 18 points, including three field goals from 3-point land in the opening 11 minutes of the game, as the Raiders spurted to a 20-9 lead. "We are very confident now, and our goals go beyond winning the league tournament," said Chipps. "We need to protect our home court in the league tournament." A total of six at-large spots will be given for the national tournament. The final ranking of the season comes out next Tuesday. Chipps finished a 35-point weekend. "It's nice," he said. "I felt real comfortable with my shot. I've been feeling real good about it the last two weeks or so." Chipps opened the game with a 20-foot shot for three points from the left wing. He added his second 3-pointer just over two minutes later with a baseline shot, and he came back with his third trey in less than four minutes from the right wing for an 11-2 Raider lead. The Raiders didn't have another double-figure scorer in the game. Point guard Don Guy, wing Chris Schmerbach and guard Davd Arbow all scored seven points. Center Scott Logue had five points, four rebounds and blocked five shots. He broke the SOU career shot blocks record with 129. The previous mark of 124 was by Troy Kadin. Ryan Valley, SOU's other center, had six points and 10 rebounds. "I had no idea I was getting close to that record," said Logue, a Grants Pass product. "It's nice to be in the record books for a while. "I'm always thinking blocked shot, but I had it a little more on my mind tonight because I was close to the record." Southern Oregon's physical man-to-man defense forced 23 Northwest College turnovers. Amos Baker had four steals for the Raiders, and Guy and Arbow three apiece. The Raiders went on a 10-0 run to stretch their lead to 63-35 with 6:22 left in the game. Chipps and Barron Lacy had fast-break layups during the run and Arbow added a 3-point jump shot from the left wing. Brian Swisher led Northwest College (22-9) with 20 points. NORTHWEST COLLEGE (22-9, 9-7) Nugent 6-13 3-4 15, Swisher 6-13 7-10 20, D'Agostino 1-7 2-2 4, Plotts 0-0 2-4 2, Schneider 1-3 0-0 2, Barker 1-1 0-0 2, Newburn 0-5 0-0 0, Speer 0-3 0-0 0, White 0-2 2-5 2, Symons 0-1 0-0 0, Abbott 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-51 16-25 47. NO. 6 SOUTHERN OREGON (20-8, 14-2) Haynes 1-2 1-2 3, Guy 2-7 3-3 7, Baker 2-10 0-0 4, Chipps 7-13 1-2 18, Valley 2-7 2-4 6, Logue 1-5 3-3 5, Schmerbach 3-5 0-0 7, Lacy 3-7 0-0 6, Strickler 1-3 0-0 2, Arbow 3-5 0-0 7, Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Ilten 1-3 0-0 2, Killingsworth 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 26-70, 11-16 68. Halftime--S. Oregon 32, Northwest 17. 3-point goals--Northwest 1-14 (Nugent 0-3, Swisher 1-4, D'Agostino 0-3, Speer 0-1, White 0-2, Symons 0-1), S. Oregon 5-16 (Guy 0-1, Baker 0-4, Chipps 3-5, Schmerbach 1-2, Lacy 0-1, Strickler 0-1, Arbow 1-1, Killingsworth 0-1). Rebounds--Northwest 40 (Newburn 6), S. Oregon 48 (Valley 10). Assists--Northwest 11 (Speer 3), S. Oregon 18 (Guy 6). Totals fouls--Northwest 17, S. Oregon 19. Attendance -- 900. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.