By Ryan Oppenheimer

EUGENE, Ore. — After going 2-0 last weekend, the Bushnell Beacons men's basketball team will try to maintain their home momentum this weekend. They host the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers Friday at 7:30 p.m. before the College of Idaho Yotes visit Saturday at 5 p.m.

The Beacons have started their season off nicely with an 8-5 overall record, going 5-2 in CCC play. It would take a massive drop-off for them to not improve on their 12-19 record from last season. With 14 returning players and a sixth-year head coach in Eddie Alexander, they are benefitting from the experience and chemistry they've built together.

The Beacons have been stuffing the net, scoring 88.5 points per game on 38.8% from deep. They've also been operating on the same page, which is evident in their 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. All three of those numbers are good for No. 1 in the conference. The unselfish, up-tempo style has allowed all four of Stevie Schlabach, Kaden Sand, Spencer Hoffman and Tony Frohlich-Fair to average double-digit points.

It hasn't been as smooth of a start for Eastern Oregon, as the Mounties (4-10 overall, 3-5 CCC) have dealt with major roster turnover and are not the same team that swept Bushnell last season and made the NAIA tournament. While they rank ninth in the CCC in scoring, averaging 74 points per game, they make threes at a solid 36.7% clip, and Garrett Hawkes shoulders most of the offensive load with 16 points per game. On defense, Jonny Hillman swipes more steals than anyone in the conference with 2.5 per game.

On the other hand, the reigning NAIA champion Yotes (12-2 overall, 7-1 CCC) are picking up right where they left off. They have not lost since their six-point defeat in their conference opener at Southern Oregon on Dec. 1, and they have outscored their opponents by an average of 14.1 points. The 2022-23 CCC Defensive Player of the Year, Charles Elzie III, may have transferred to Division II Hawai'i Hilo, but the Yotes are still as tough to score on as any team in the NAIA. Sophomore guard Samaje Morgan, a Churchill High School alum, has replaced Elzie seamlessly as the lead ball-handler and scores a team-high 14.4 points per game.

It should be an action-filled weekend at the Morse Center and it will be a chance for Bushnell to inch closer into the NAIA tournament picture. While it certainly looks like the favorite on paper against Eastern Oregon, the Mounties lead the all-time series 21-12. The true test will be how the Beacons look against the national champs. It's hard to expect a win, but if they are able to keep it close and maintain their offensive identity against the stingiest defense they've faced all year, it would be a confidence boost for the program.

Prediction: Bushnell defeats Eastern Oregon 93-70 but falls to the College of Idaho 86-75.