BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Junior
Nash Keene (Aumsville, Ore.) came off the bench to provide a game-high 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field that included a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the three-point arc, but it was not enough as Corban's men's basketball team fell to the NAIA's No. 22-ranked Eastern Oregon, 78-71, Saturday night inside Quinn Coliseum.
With tonight's result, Corban falls to 6-14 overall and 1-8 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon improves to 13-5 overall and 7-2 in league play.
Keene was aided scoring-wise by senior
Ben Potloff (Keizer, Ore.), who was the only other Warrior in double figures with 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field. Freshman
Jacob Kopra (Gresham, Ore.) came off the bench to provide nine points, while sophomore
Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) added eight points. Junior
Ian Logan (Aloha, Ore.) returned to the starting lineup for the first time this year and scored seven points and pulled down a team-leading six rebounds.
The game's opening six-plus minutes would belong to the host Mountaineers, as Eastern Oregon jumped out to a 12-point lead (16-4) following a Josh Landsverk jumper with 13:59 to go. Corban would battle back to within four points (34-30) thanks to a 26-18 run that was capped via a Potloff fast break lay-in with 2:35 remaining in the first half. Unfortunately that would be as close as the visiting Warriors would get, as Eastern Oregon used an 8-0 that concluded with a Thomas McCarthy three-pointer for a 12-point EOU lead (42-30) with 50 seconds left. Potloff closed out the scoring over the opening twenty minutes with a jumper in the paint for the half time difference of 10 points (42-32).
In the second half, Eastern Oregon would hold a double-digit lead until Kopra hit a pair of free throws that pulled Corban to within eight points (59-51) with just under nine minutes remaining. The host Mountaineers would push their lead back to double figures (69-55) before Corban began to mount a come back getting as close as seven points (78-71) after a pair of free throws by freshman
Jordan Graneto (Keizer, Ore.) with 29 ticks left on the clock.
Eastern Oregon was led in scoring by McCarthy, who tallied 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field that included a 4-for-6 performance from beyond the arc. Three other Mountaineers – Jacques Wilson, Landsverk, and Dan Stafford – scored in double figures, as the trio netted 14, 12, and 10 points respectively. Jordan Gregg led all players with a game-high 10 rebounds, while Wilson provided six rebounds, four assists, and a game-high three blocks for the Mountaineers.
As a team, Corban shot 29-for-59 (49.2%) from the field to go along with an 8-for-14 (57.1%) showing from beyond the three-point arc and a 5-for-7 (71.4%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon was 28-for-59 (47.5%) from the field, 11-for-25 (44.0%) from long distance, and 11-for-16 (68.8%) from the charity stripe.
The Warriors will return to the hardwood on Friday, January 22nd, as part of a four-game road trip against the Eagles of Northwest beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. in Kirkland, Washington.
