BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – For the second year in a row, Corban's men's basketball team upset the nationally-ranked Knights of Warner Pacific, 82-76, behind a trio of Warriors scoring in double figures Saturday night inside C.C. Perry Gymnasium.
With tonight's win, Corban snaps its 16-game losing streak and improves to 7-19 overall and 2-13 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, the NAIA's No. 7-ranked Warner Pacific lost its second consecutive game to fall to 17-7 overall and 9-5 in league action.
Corban was led in scoring for the second straight night by senior
Ben Potloff (Keizer, Ore.), who tallied a game-high 24 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the field to go along with a 9-for-14 effort at the free throw line. Potloff was aided on the score board by a pair of juniors –
Ian Logan (Aloha, Ore.) and
Nash Keene (Aumsville, Ore.) – who scored 18 and 17 points respectively on a combined 14-for-27 shooting from the field. Junior
Deonte Johnson (Modesto, Calif.) grabbed a game-high tying eight rebounds, while sophomore
Brelin Powell (Boise, Idaho) handed out a team-leading three assists in the victory.
In the opening half, Warner Pacific quickly grabbed an eight-point lead (13-5) following a Reggie Guyton free throw with 16:11 left. Corban would battle back to take a nine-point lead (32-23) thanks to a 27-10 run over a span of six-plus minutes, as Potloff ended the run via a lay-in with just under 10 minutes remaining. Warner Pacific would retake the lead (38-37) thanks to a 15-5 run before both teams were tied at 40-40 with 24 seconds left. Corban would go into the locker room with a slim two-point half time lead (42-40), as freshman
Marcus Butler (Patterson, Calif.) connected on a buzzer-beating lay-in for the final points of the opening twenty minutes.
The second half would begin with Corban scoring eight of the first 11 points en route to grabbing a seven-point lead (50-43) following a lay-in by sophomore
Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) with 17:19 on the clock. The visiting Warriors would not relinquish the lead until the 6:45 mark with Warner Pacific's Jake Glisson connected on a lay-in for a 65-64 Knight lead. After the score was knotted at 70-all with just under five minutes remaining, Corban used a 9-0 run over a span of three-plus minutes en route to grabbing an insurmountable 79-70 lead after a pair of Potloff free throws with 71 seconds to go. More free throw shooting and timely rebounding down the stretch would seal the victory for Corban, as Potloff hit 3-out-of-4 shots at the charity stripe in the final 14 seconds for the 82-76 win.
Warner Pacific was led by Kaylone Riley, who registered team-highs of 19 points, eight rebounds, a game-high five blocks, and four assists. The Knights also got scoring help from three different players – Glisson, Guyton, and Jared Mace – who tallied 18, 17, and 12 points respectively. Riley was aided on the boards by Glisson, who grabbed six rebounds to go along with his 18-point effort in the loss.
As a team, Corban shot 31-for-59 (52.5%) from the field to go along with a 6-for-9 (66.7%) showing from beyond the three-point arc and a 14-for-22 (63.6%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Warner Pacific was 32-for-68 (47.1%) from the field, 2-for-19 (10.5%) from long distance, and 10-for-15 (66.7%) at the charity stripe.
Corban will return to the hardwood on Friday, February 12th, against the NAIA's No. 20-ranked Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.