BOX SCORE
KIRKLAND, Wash. – For the third time in the past four games, three different Warriors led the team in scoring but it was not enough as Corban's men's basketball team fell to the Eagles of Northwest, 76-73, Friday night inside the Pavilion.
With tonight's final result, Corban falls to 6-15 overall and 1-9 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Northwest improves to 11-9 overall and 6-4 in league action.
Senior
Ben Potloff (Keizer, Ore.) led all scorers with a game-high 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field to go along with a 7-for-8 performance at the free throw line. Potloff was aided scoring-wise by sophomore
Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) and junior
Nash Keene (Aumsville, Ore.), as the duo scored 19 and 12 points respectively. On the boards, Cronrath pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds to go along with a team-high three assists by sophomore
Brelin Powell (Boise, Idaho).
The first half would begin with a see-saw battle that produced an 11-11 tie with 14:21 left. Over the next eight-plus minutes, Corban would use a 19-8 run en route to securing an 11-point lead (30-19) following a Powell lay-in with 6:22 left. Northwest would get as close as four points (32-28) after a Greg Peters' dunk before the visiting Warriors settled for a nine-point lead (38-29) at halftime.
In the second half, Northwest would continue to trail for the opening nine-plus minutes before taking the lead (50-49) at the 10:34 mark following a Peters' free throw. Corban would regain the lead and then push it to as much as seven points (61-54) thanks to a pair of Potloff free throws with 6:17 left on the clock. Using its never-say-die attitude, Northwest battled back to recapture the lead at 68-65 before Cronrath converted a lay-in and free throw for an old fashion three-point play that knotted the score at 68-all with 1:45 left. Northwest would regain the lead (71-68) thanks to a Blake Solomon three-pointer before the Eagles would rely on free throw shooting down the stretch for the hard-fought 76-73 victory.
Northwest had four players score in double figures led by Greg George's 20-point, 10-rebound performance that came via a 7-for-13 shooting performance from the field. The other three Eagles – Solomon, Stedman Richardson, and Peters – chipped in with 18, 12, and 11 points respectively.
As a team, Corban shot 24-for-52 (46.2%) from the field to go along with a 5-for-13 (38.5%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 20-for-25 (80.0%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Northwest was 27-for-63 (42.9%) from the field, 3-for-10 (30.0%) from long distance, and 19-for-30 (63.3%) at the charity stripe.
Corban will return to the hardwood tomorrow night – Saturday, January 23rd – against the NAIA's No. 26-ranked Geoducks of Evergreen beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside the Greenhouse in Olympia, Washington.