The Raiders bring a 7-6 overall record and a 3-0 Cascade Conference record into the game, which will start at 7:30 p.m.

Oregon Tech, the 1998 NAIA national runner-up, which was ranked second in the nation earlier this season, is 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the Cascade Conference.

"I'm not that pleased with our overall record, but if you had told me we would be 3-0 in the league, I would have been pleasantly surprised," says SOU coach Brian McDermott. "I'm very happy with that."

McDermott hopes to be 4-0 after beating Oregon Tech tonight.

"I'll be disappointed if we don't win this game," says McDermott. "It's a big deal because they (the Owls) are always one of the best teams in the league. We need to beat them to take the next step.

"I think we can play with them," says McDermott. "So do the kids. They think they're (Raiders) going to win the league. And they could."

Oregon Tech has lost center Bob Townsend for the season with a broken foot.

"He was on his way to being our all-time career leading scorer," says Owls coach Dan Miles. "It's too bad. He only had to average about 12 points a game to break the record."

Townsend was averaging 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds when he was lost for the season.

OIT will go with 6-foot-10 junior center Erich Lais, a transfer from Umpqua Community College, in place of Townsend. In Townsend's absence, forward Tutu Ntoya averaged 16 points the last two games.

The Owls are led in scoring by 6-4 senior forward Saif Abdur-Rahman, who led the Owls into the NAIA Division II national championship game last year. He's averaging 19.1 points a game.

Former North Medford High player Josh Woodson will start at a wing position. The 6-2 Woodson will be backed up by 6-3 Josh Conrad, a Mazama High graduate who didn't play high school basketball.

Oregon Tech defeated Southern Oregon, 88-77, on Dec. 15 in the opening round of the Cell Tech Classic in Klamath Falls.

"We didn't play very well," says McDermott. "That was about the way we had been practicing at the time. But we've picked it up, and they will see a different team this time."

McDermott heard that the Owls thought that game was physical.

"If they think it was physical last time, wait until this time," says McDermott. "I didn't even think that was a very physical game. Actually, I thought we played really soft."

Southern Oregon continued on to win a big conference game at Western Baptist on New Year's Eve, setting up the significance of tonight's game.

Southern Oregon is expected to start 6-5 Shavon Haynes of Illinois Valley at a forward. Ryan Valley (6-9) will start at center, Amos Baker (6-6) at big forward and guards Tom Chipps and Don Guy.