COMING UP: The Evergreen State College (8-15 overall, 5-10 CCC) travels to Oregon for games against the Northwest Christian University Beacons (20-14, 13-1) in Eugene on Friday and the Corban University Warriors (12-10, 6-8) in Salem on Saturday. Tip off for both games is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

FOLLOW THE GEODUCKS: All Evergreen home basketball games are available either via live stats or pay-per-view video stream at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/evergreen/#. John Hammargren is in his fourth year as the play-by-play voice of Evergreen basketball.

GEODUCKS AT NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN: Live stats and video stream available at http://www.gobeacons.com/sports/2009/11/13/GEN_1113094524.aspx.

GEODUCKS AT CORBAN: Live stats and video stream available at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/corban/.

ABOUT THE GEODUCKS: Wins are imperative as Evergreen, loser of its last four games overall and six straight on the road, pushes toward a conference playoff spot. With five games remaining, Evergreen is in ninth place in the standings, one spot out of the eight-team CCC postseason field. The Geoducks have the tiebreaker over eighth-place Northwest University. In conference games the Geoducks score 82.7 points while allowing 87.9, and they are on the minus side by 4.1 rebounds per contest. They are second in the CCC with a .707 free throw percentage and rank fifth with .377 shooting accuracy from beyond the three-point line. The Geoducks continue to take good care of the basketball, averaging only 11.5 turnovers per game. Alix Hernandez, on the mend from an ankle sprain, averages 14.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Geoducks. Brock Otis scores 13.9 points per game and Jarrick Mitchell is among the conference leaders with 3.5 assists per game and .453 shooting accuracy from beyond the three-point line.

ABOUT NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN: The Beacons are ranked No. 8 in NAIA Division II men's basketball for the second straight week. They have won 13 straight games dating back to an 80-75 road loss to Southern Oregon on Dec. 6. NCU wins with defense – it has the CCC's top scoring defense at 70.2 points per game – and a balanced offensive attack. Senior guard Javonte Byrd leads the team with 14.7 points per game, followed by senior forward Omar Richards at 14.2 and senior forward Austin Kemper at 12.6. Those are the only three players averaging in double figures. Richards is the top rebounder with 7.8 per game, followed by junior forward Jay Mayernik with 7.5. Junior forward Jack Hackman leads the league with .477 three-point shooting accuracy, and freshman guard is among the best in the conference with 5.6 assists per game. The Beacons can shoot the three – they hit a league-leading .403 from beyond the arc.

THE FIRST TIME: Northwest Christian hit seven of eight free throws inside the final 34 seconds to take a hotly contested 89-85 conference win over the Geoducks on Dec. 9 in CRC Gymnasium. Alix Hernandez was 8-for-12 from the field and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe on the way to a game-high 24 points for Evergreen, and he also led the team with five assists.

ABOUT CORBAN: The Warriors are in seventh place in the conference standings, 1 ½ games ahead of the Geoducks. They average 76.8 points and allow 77.9 per game in conference play, though they are nearly two rebounds per game better than their opponents. Corban ranks third among CCC teams with a .487 field goal percentage, but it is the worst foul shooting team at just .642. Sophomore guard AJ Monterossi is having a great year and ranks fourth in conference scoring with 18.9 points per game. Senior forward Cyrus Ward averages 17.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and sophomore guard Caleb Dozier chips in 6.4 rebounds per game. The Warriors, who host Northwest University on Friday night, come into the weekend with losses in four of their last five games.

THE FIRST TIME: Jarrick Mitchell scored a career-high 21 points, including two clutch free throws with 4.8 seconds left, to lead Evergreen to a thrilling 93-90 league victory over Corban on Dec. 8 in CRC Gymnasium. Mitchell led five Evergreen players in double figures. He was joined in that category by Frankie Johnson with 19, Alix Hernandez and Brock Otis with 16 each and Ryan Quigley with 11. Quigley led the Geoducks with seven rebounds and Hernandez dished out a game-high 10 assists to finish with a double-double.

EASTERN OREGON 103, EVERGREEN 93: Taylor Drey, making just his second start of the season, scored a career-best 30 points last Friday night but it wasn't enough to prevent Evergreen from dropping a 103-93 conference contest to the visiting Eastern Oregon Mountaineers in CRC Gymnasium.

COLLEGE OF IDAHO 100, EVERGREEN 85: Aitor Zubizarreta poured in 45 points and grabbed nine rebounds last Saturday night to lead College of Idaho to a 100-85 win over the Geoducks in CRC Gymnasium. Taylor Drey scored 25 points for the Geoducks.