BOX SCORE

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Corban's men's basketball team had its season ended for the second time in four seasons by the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech, as the Warriors' 2008-09 campaign came to a close in the opening round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference playoffs, 80-68, Wednesday night at Danny Miles Court.

Freshman Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) closed out his inaugural collegiate season by scoring a career-high 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field and pulling down a team-high five rebounds.

Tonight's contest began with a pair of jumpers by Cronrath, which gave the visiting Warriors any early 4-2 lead just over one minutes into the game. Oregon Tech would then use a 5-0 run over a span of two minutes and 20 seconds to grab a five-point advantage (9-4) following a Christian Cavanaugh dunk with 16:38 showing on the clock. Corban then used a 20-8 run over the next nine-plus minutes en route to grabbing a seven-point lead (24-17) after sophomore Ian Logan (Aloha, Ore.) converted an old-fashion three-point play with 7:29 remaining. The host Owls would grab one-point lead (29-28) following a 12-4 run that was highlighted by a Miles Daley three-pointer with exactly four minutes left in the opening half. Over the final four minutes, both teams would trade buckets until Oregon Tech took a slim two-point lead (37-35) into the locker room thanks to a Josh Wetzler jumper with three seconds left.

In the second half, Cavanaugh would hand OIT a four-point lead (39-35) within the opening 40 seconds before sophomore Clay Martin (Beaverton, Ore.) knocked down back-to-back jumpers to tie the game at 39-39 with 17:38 left in the game. The host Owls would then begin to pull away from the Warriors thanks to a 18-8 run over a span of seven minutes and nine second en route to grabbing a double digit lead (57-47) following a Cavanaugh jumper with just over 10 minutes remaining. After a Martin free throw would trim Corban's deficit to single digits (57-48) with 10:28 left, Oregon Tech would use a 21-15 run over the next nine-plus minutes to capture its largest lead of the game (78-63) after Jguwon Hogges hit back-to-back free throws with 54 seconds left. Martin would knocked down a free throw before his older brother – junior Paul Martin (Beaverton, Ore.) – registered a steal and a lay-in to pull the Warriors within 12 points (78-66) with 31 ticks showing on the clock. Another two Hogges free throws would extend OIT's lead back to 14 points (80-66) before Corban freshman Ryan Fox (Olympia, Wash.) connected on the game's final field goal with 18 seconds left for the final margin of 12 points (80-68).

Cronrath was aided by Clay Martin's 17 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field to go along with a 7-for-12 showing at the free throw line. Logan and Paul Martin added 9 and 7 points respectively, while Logan added four rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Oregon Tech was led by five players in double figures, as Hogges poured in a game-high tying 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field. Hogges, who also pulled down a game-high tying eight rebounds, was aided scoring-wise by Mike Nierarth's 16 points and Wetzler's 12-point, 8-rebound effort.

As a team, Corban was 26-for-51 (51.0%) from the field that included a 4-for-15 (26.7%) showing from three-point range and a 12-for-20 (60.0%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Oregon Tech was 28-for-56 (50.0%) from the field, 9-for-19 (47.4%) from long distance, and 15-for-16 (93.8%) at the charity stripe.

Corban concludes the '08-09 season at 11-19 overall, while Oregon Tech improves to 26-5 and will meet the Beacons of Northwest Christian in the conference tournament semifinals on Friday, February 27th, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Danny Miles Court.