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Raider men win, meet OIT for title By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN ASHLAND -- It comes down to two longtime rivals squaring off for 40 minutes of championship basketball. It will happen Tuesday night at Southern Oregon University's McNeal Pavilion. At stake will be an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II national men's basketball tournament March 10-16 in Nampa, Idaho and the championship of the Cascade Conference playoffs. Southern Oregon University's Raiders earned their way to the title game with a 93-80 victory over Northwest College on Saturday night in the semifinals at McNeal Pavilion. Meanwhile, Oregon Institute of Technology's resilient Owls, who finished third in the Cascade Conference regular-season standings, flew into Monday's title game with a stunning 72-65 win over Albertson College in Caldwell, Idaho. Coach Dan Miles' Owls, who were two seconds from a national championship a year ago before losing to Bethel College of Indiana by one point in the title game, will blow into Ashland on Tuesday hoping to sustain the momentum they have gathered with two consecutive Cascade Conference playoff wins and a six-game winning streak. "We knew there was a chance we could play Oregon Tech," said Southern Oregon point guard Don Guy, who scored 13 points and dished out four assists in the Raiders' 21st win against eight losses and their eighth straight victory. "We were looking forward to playing them or Albertson. We are intense rivals of both of them. "But we're glad to get to play Oregon Tech," said Guy. "There has been kind of a hump for us to get over with Tech. I feel we've gotten over it with two straight wins over them. SOU has won two of three games against the Owls this season, after Oregon Tech enjoyed a 3-1 edge in the series last year. "Now we need to go out and play with confidence against them," said Guy. Forward Amos Baker, who scored 10 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the Raiders, says beating Oregon Tech would prepare them for the national tournament. "It's going to be crazy in here on Tuesday night," said Baker. "That's our rival, without a doubt. "We're looking for a little redemption from them," said Baker. "They knocked us out of the playoffs last year. Even though we won the league championship this year, we still want redemption for that playoff loss over there last year. It was tough on us." Against Northwest College, the Raiders produced scoring balance. Five SOU players scored in double figures, including guard Tom Chipps, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Guy scored 13 points and had four assists, sophomore forward Shavon Haynes had 11 points and seven rebounds, center Scott Logue added 12 points and Baker had 10. "I was pleased with the way the kids came out," said SOU coach Brian McDermott. "They came out and played hard. They know what I want from them, but it gets hard to do when you get up big." Southern Oregon built its biggest lead of the game at 60-34 with 17:05 left in the first half on two free throws by Guy. The Raiders appeared to lose some of their competitive edge in the final 15 minutes as the Eagles cut the lead to 13 points at 91-78. The Raiders outscored the Eagles 11-1 to take that lead. Center Ryan Valley and Chipps cashed in layups and Haynes and Guy both converted two free throws. Sandwiched in between all that action was a 3-point shot by Baker from the left baseline. "We didn't have one guy go crazy offensively," said McDermott. "Everybody did something nice. That's pretty typical of this team." Lincoln Nugent led the Eagles (23-10) with 19 points and center Dan Schneider had 15. SOU NOTES -- Baker had his fourth double-double of the season...The Raiders hve won 15 of their last 17 games and 12 straight in friendly McNeal Pavilion...Tickets for the SOU-Oregon Tech title game go on sale Monday at noon at McNeal Pavilion and at the Stevenson Union...Tickets for the Southern Oregon-Northwest Nazarene women's Cascade Conference championship game will also go on sale at the same time and sites on Monday. The game will start at 7:30 p.m... Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.