BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – Sophomore
Clay Martin (Beaverton, Ore.) extended his streak of 20-or-more points to four games thanks to a game-high 21 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field to go along with a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line, as Corban's men's basketball team picked up a much-needed win over the Wildcats of Linfield, 70-67, Saturday night inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
After picking up back-to-back wins in Southern California over the Thanksgiving holiday, Corban had suffered three straight losses and knew that tonight would be a tough test figuring that Linfield had fallen to nationally-ranked Evergreen less than 24 hours ago by a mere eight points.
In the opening half, the Warriors would only need three minutes and 24 seconds to jump out to a quick ten-point lead (14-4) behind a pair of threes from junior Ben Potloff (Keizer, Ore.) and Martin. Battling over the ensuing six and a half minutes, Corban and Linfield would each contribute combinations of lay-ups and jumpers before junior Paul Martin (Beaverton, Ore.) hit a jumper of his own with 10:25 showing on the clock, maintaining the Warrior lead at 10 points, 20-10. Over the next four and a half minutes of play, Clay Martin would contribute a combination of a lay-up, a jumper, a pair of free-throws, and a deep three-point basket to bring the growing Corban lead to 15 points (31-16) with only 5:32 left in the half. Deciding that enough was enough, the visiting Wildcats would embark on a 15-6 run over the final five and a half minutes, bringing the seemingly unreachable Warrior lead to a mere six points, 36-30, at the half.
Over the final twenty minutes, the Warriors would push their lead to nine points (43-34) with 18:48 on the clock following four straight free throws by Clay Martin that began when Linfield's K.C. Wiser was charged with a technical foul for arguing. Corban's lead would remain at nine points (48-39) following a three-pointer by sophomore Ian Logan (Aloha, Ore.) with 17:05 on the clock. Unfortunately, the Warriors' lead would not last thanks to Linfield's 11-4 run over a span of three minutes and 30 seconds that would decrease Corban's lead to a mere point (52-51) with 13:35 left in the game. Logan would answer the Wildcats' run with his second trifecta of the evening a mere 21 seconds later to put the Warriors back ahead by four points (55-51). The visiting Wildcats would then use a 5-0 run to grab its first lead of the night (56-55) following a Cody Tesoro lay-in and foul, as Erik Olson finished off the conventional three-point play with Tesoro sitting on the bench due to an injury suffered on the aforementioned lay-in. Wiser would push Linfield's lead to two points (57-55) with 8:12 left in the contest before Austin Hunt nailed a three-pointer that increased the Wildcats' lead to five points (60-55) less than 30 seconds later. Senior Wade Douglas (Ontario, Ore.) nailed a pair of free throws and then converted back-to-back lay-ins with just over six minutes remaining to give Corban a mere one-point lead (61-60) before Wiser handed the lead back to Linfield (62-61) less than 15 seconds later. Both teams would go ice cold over the next two-plus minutes before Wiser converted a three-point play with just under four minutes left to give Linfield a four-point advantage (65-61). Douglas and Logan would connect on back-to-back buckets to tie the game for only the second time at 65-all with 2:20 showing on the clock. A Logan free throw on the end of a three-point play would hand Corban the lead for good (66-65), as free throws down the stretch by Clay Martin and Logan coupled with timely rebounding would give the Warriors' a three-point lead with 16 ticks left on the clock. A three-pointer from the near sideline by Linfield's Olson with five seconds left would carome off the rim and into the hands of Drew Schroeder, but his attempted pass back for a game-tying trifecta was too late as the final buzzer sounded before the shot was released. Therefore, the game ended with the scoreboard showing in favor of the home Warriors by three points (70-67).
Besides Clay Martin's game-high point total, a trio of Warriors -- Logan, Potloff, and Douglas -- added 14, 11, and 10 points respectively. Meanwhile, Paul Martin and freshman Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) registered seven points each for Corban. On the boards, Douglas pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to go along with Logan's four-rebound, three-assist performance.
Linfield was led by a trio of Wildcats -- Wiser, Tesoro, and nearby McNary graduate Matt McCollum -- that scored 14 points each, while Hunt and Olson added nine and seven points respectively. Wiser pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Linfield en route to registering a double-double, while McCollum grabbed five boards and a trio of Linfield players handed out a game and team-high tying three assists.
As a team, Corban shot 24-for-52 (46.2%) from the field that included a 14-for-27 (51.9%) clip over the game's opening twenty minutes. The Warriors were 6-for-13 (46.2%) from beyond the three-point line, while turning in a 16-for-23 (69.6%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, Linfield was 27-for-52 (51.9%) from the field that included a 13-for-24 (54.2%) showing in the first half. The Wildcats were a mere 3-for-14 (21.4%) from beyond the arc, while shooting 10-for-12 (83.3%) at the charity stripe.
With the win, Corban improves to 4-6 overall compared to Linfield's early non-conference record of 1-5. The Warriors are back in action on Saturday, December 20th, when they return to Cascade Collegiate Conference play against the Beacons of Northwest Christian beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside the Morse Event Center in Eugene.
