BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Junior Nash Keene (Aumsville, Ore.) nearly matched his career-high with 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field that included a 4-for-5 performance from three-point range, but it was not enough as Corban's men's basketball team fell to cross town rival and NCAA Division III member Willamette, 78-74, Friday night inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

With tonight's loss, Corban falls to 5-6 on the season and snaps a mini one-game winning streak in the process. Meanwhile, Willamette pushes its winning streak to two games and improves to 3-5 overall.

Keene, who previously tallied a career-high 20 points earlier this season against Pacific in 22 minutes of action, registered his team-high tying point total in an identical 22 minutes of action off the bench tonight against the visiting Bearcats.

The third-year Warrior was aided scoring-wise by junior Ian Logan (Aloha, Ore.), who tallied a team-high tying 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field that included a 3-for-4 performance from beyond the three-point line. Logan also tied for the team lead in rebounds with nine, while sophomore Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) turned in a 14-point, 9-rebound performance for the host Warriors.

In the opening half, both teams battled back and forth over the first two-plus minutes. With the score knotted at 6-all, Willamette used a 7-0 run over the span of 2:12 en route to capturing a seven-point lead (13-7) following a lay-up by Cameron Mitchell with 15:31 remaining in the first half. Corban would battle back to take a two-point lead (19-17) via a 12-4 run over a span of 5:45 after a three-pointer by Logan with 9:47 showing on the clock. Once again, the two teams would battle back and forth until Willamette took a six-point lead (34-28) into the locker room after Robbie Kunke scored the final points of the first half via a lay-up with just over two minutes remaining.

The second half would belong to Willamette over the opening eight-plus minutes, as the visiting Bearcats increased their lead to as much as 11 points (54-33) following a Mitchell lay-in with 11:55 left in the game. Corban would never quit, as the host Warriors began a slow climb back and would get as close as a single point on three separate occasions (61-60, 70-69, & 72-71) after a trio of Logan lay-ups with the final one happening with 55 seconds left in the contest. Unfortunately, the play of Willamette's Marcus Holmes down the stretch sealed the four-point win (78-74) for the visiting Bearcats thanks to jumper in the paint and a perfect 4-for-4 showing at the free throw line over the game's final minute.

Mitchell led all players with a game-high 24 points on 12-for-19 shooting from the field and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Holmes and Taylor Mounts added 20 and 14 points respectively. Besides Mitchell's double-double performance, Scott Schoettgen came off the bench to pull down five rebounds to go along with Kunke's game-high eight assists.

As a team, Corban shot 30-for-57 (52.6%) from the field to go along with a 7-for-15 (46.7%) showing from three-point distance and a 7-for-11 (63.6%) performance at the free throw line. Meanwhile, Willamette was 33-for-73 (45.2%) from the field, 5-for-18 (27.8%) from long distance, and 7-for-9 (77.8%) at the charity stripe. The difference in the game came on the defensive end, as Willamette forced 26 Warrior turnovers and turned those miscues into 23 points.

Corban will return to the hardwood tomorrow night – Saturday, December 12th – in an exhibition contest against NCAA Division II member Saint Martin's beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside Marcus Pavilion in Olympia, Washington.