BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – Junior
Ben Potloff (Keizer, Ore.) scored a career and game-high 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field that included a 6-for-8 showing from three-point land, as Corban's men's basketball team defeated the Thunderbirds of Cascade, 74-73, Saturday night inside the ThunderDome.
After claiming a nine-point lead (74-65) with just over 90 seconds left following a three-pointer by sophomore
Clay Martin (Beaverton, Ore.), Corban watched as the host T-birds used a game-closing 8-0 run over the span of 89 seconds to pull within a single point (74-73). Following back-to-back missed free throws by the Warriors with six seconds left, Cascade's Cornell Littlejohn released a three-pointer that hit nothing but net and would have given the host Thunderbirds the victory. Fortunately for the Warriors, Littlejohn's last-second trifecta came just after the final buzzer sounded and therefore the officials waved off the potential game-winning shot which gave Corban the one-point win (74-73).
To open the game, the Warriors quickly jumped out to a five-point lead (9-4) following a Potloff three-pointer with 17:26 remaining in the first half before Cascade used a 7-2 run over a span of one minute and 39 second to knot the game at 11-all. The Warriors would extend their lead to as much as 14 points (37-23) via a 26-12 run over a span of six minutes and 13 seconds that was capped by a lay-in by sophomore
Ian Logan (Aloha, Ore.) with 5:13 on the clock. Over the final five-plus minutes of the first half, Cascade used a 11-2 run to pull within five points (39-34) thanks to a buzzer-beating Kao Saelee lay-in.
In the second half, Corban would push its lead to nine points (47-38) in the opening three minutes thanks to a dunk by freshman
Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) with 17:02 remaining in the game. The visiting Warriors would push their lead back to double figures (58-46) following a three-pointer by Martin with 11:49 left, but Cascade used 15-3 run over a span of five minutes and 47 seconds to pull within a single point (62-61) with just over six minutes left. Corban would push its lead to nine points (74-65) via a 13-4 run before Cascade would begin its comeback over the game's final 90 seconds.
Potloff was aided scoring-wise by Martin's 21 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the field, while Logan added 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Junior
Paul Martin (Beaverton, Ore.) and Cronrath rounded out the Warriors' scoring with nine and seven points respectively, while the Martin brothers – Paul and Clay – handed out a team-best six assists each.
Cascade was led by Jason McCall's 23 points off the bench on 11-for-16 shooting from the field, while Littlejohn and Josh Brown added 17 and 13 points respectively. Jared Mace pulled down a team-best eight rebounds, while Littlejohn handed out a game-high eight assists on
Senior Night.
As a team, Corban shot 28-for-50 (56.0%) from the field that included a 10-for-19 (52.6%) performance from three-point range and an 8-for-16 (50.0%) showing from the free throw line. On the other hand, Cascade was 31-for-72 (43.1%) from the field, 4-for-16 (25.0%) from long distance, and a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
With the win, Corban improves to 10-17 overall and 6-12 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Cascade falls to 12-14 overall and 5-13 in CCC action. The Warriors will return to the hardwood on Friday, February 20th, when they host the Raiders of Southern Oregon beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
NOTE: With tonight's wire-to-wire victory, Corban pulls into a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot with two games remaining. The Warriors are tied with the Eagles of Northwest with identical conference records of 6-11, as well as a season series split with NU thanks to victories on the opponent's respective home court, while sitting a mere one game behind the seventh-seeded Raiders of Southern Oregon.
