BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Junior Ben Potloff (Keizer, Ore.) registered his first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, as Corban's men's basketball team upset the NAIA's No. 10-ranked Knights of Warner Pacific, 74-59, Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

"(Tonight's win) feels great," commented seventh-year head coach Justin Sherwood.  "(The key to tonight's win) was our defense and execution on both ends of the court.  We knew what the game plan was defensively and we were able to execute it.  Rebounds have been hurting us (this year) and we were able to out-rebound throughout the game, even though we were short-handed."

The Warriors jumped out to an 11-0 run over the game's opening five-plus minutes behind five points by sophomore Clay Martin (Beaverton, Ore.).  Warner Pacific attempted to get back into the game, but could not overcome a tough shooting first half thanks to a 7-for-29 (24.1%) performance from the field.  Corban grabbed its second 11-point lead (25-14) of the opening half following a conventional three-point play by senior Wade Douglas (Ontario, Ore.) with 2:20 remaining.  The visiting Knights would get within nine points (25-16) at the half thanks to a jumper by Aukai Wong with six ticks remaining.

In the second half, the Warriors took their nine-point halftime advantage and built it to a game-high 22 points (48-26) via an opening 23-10 lead that was capped by Martin's free throw with 12:30 left in the contest.  The high-scoring Knights would get within nine points (63-54) with 2:25 left thanks to a 28-15 run over the span of 10 minutes and five seconds.  Unfortunately for the nationally-ranked Knights, Corban went 11-for-12 at the free throw line over the final two-plus minutes to secure the upset win (74-59) and extend the Warriors' winning streak to two games.

Potloff was aided scoring-wise by Martin, who tallied a team-high 18 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field.  Meanwhile, junior Paul Martin (Beaverton, Ore.), Douglas, and sophomore Ian Logan (Aloha, Ore.) added 12, 12, and 11 points respectively.

"(This was a) big game for Ben," said Sherwood.  "He struggled last night, but came back tonight with eight rebounds at half (before) ending with 11 boards.  He really had a good game tonight and made some big shots."

On the boards, Potloff was helped by freshman Jake Mauermann's (Clackamas, Ore.) career-high eight-rebound effort to go along with Douglas' six boards.  Assist-wise, Paul Martin handed out six dimes to go along with Logan and Clay Martin's two assists each.

"I told my teammate Paul Martin at out shoot around today that I saw that he and Clay both had 10 rebounds last night," said Potloff.  "I am the same height (as them) and that was my goal tonight, as I wanted to come out a crash the boards and do something different than just scoring."

Warner Pacific was led by Wong's game-high 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting from the field that included a 4-for-11 performance from three-point land.  Steffen Harvey and Tom Higgins added 10 and 9 points respectively, while the nation's No. 14 scorer, Adam Moore, who finished with a mere three points on 1-for-10 shooting from the field to go along with the NAIA's top rebounder, Kaylone Riley, being held to a mere seven boards in 16 minutes of action.

"(We had an) all-around and team effort tonight (on Moore and Riley)," Sherwood said.  "Everyone contributed in rebounding, as our top rebounder was able to get in there and everyone else was able to pick up the loose ones that we needed to.  We had different guys guarding Adam (Moore), but it was a team effort (that led to the win)."

As a team, Corban shot 25-for-55 (45.5%) from the field to go along with a 5-for-13 (38.5%) effort from three-point land and a 19-for-26 (73.1%) showing at the free throw line.  On the other hand, Warner Pacific rebounded in the second half to register a 21-for-66 (31.8%) showing from the field but shot a dismal 9-for-36 (25.0%) from long distance that included a 1-for-13 (7.7%) start for the game.

With the win, Corban improves to 6-11 overall (2-6 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play) versus Warner Pacific's 12-4 overall mark that includes a 5-3 record in CCC action.  The Warriors return to the hardwood on Friday, January 16th, when they travel east to La Grande to take on the NAIA's No. 19-ranked Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside Quinn Coliseum.