BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Coming off one of its best games of the year twenty-four hours ago against the NAIA's No. 13-ranked Oregon Tech, Corban's men's basketball team ended 2010 on a winning note with a 75-74 come-from-behind win over Southern Oregon Friday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

Junior Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) and freshman Jordan Carter (Salem, Ore.) led the Warriors in scoring with 16 points each, while senior Nash Keene (Aumsville, Ore.) and sophomore Jacob Kopra (Gresham, Ore.) poured in 12 points apiece off the bench. Kopra also pulled down a game-high tying eight rebounds, while Carter handed out a team-high five assists.

In the opening half, Southern Oregon scored the opening bucket before Corban used a 5-0 run that was capitalized by a three-pointer by junior Jake Mauermann (Clackamas, Ore.) that extended the Warriors' record streak with at least one three-pointer made to 799 consecutive games. From that point, the visiting Raiders took control building a seven-point lead (13-6) with just over 15 minutes on the clock and continued to add to its lead increasing it to as much as 11 points (34-24) at the 7:14 mark. Corban would get within nine points (36-45) at the half following a Carter free throw in the final minute.

The second half would begin with Southern Oregon pushing its lead to a game-high 14 points (58-44) thanks to a Kellen Hawley jumper with 13:18 on the clock. Corban would then use a 17-3 run over a span of four minutes to knot the game at 61-all after a pair of Cronrath free throws. Both teams would trade buckets over the next three-plus minutes until the host Warriors took the lead for good on a Carter free throw with just under five minutes to play giving Corban a one-point lead (70-69). The host Warriors would push their lead to four points (75-71) after two more Carter free throws with 2:16 left. A three-pointer by SOU's Jordan Highland would pull the visiting Raiders to within a single point (75-74) before Corban missed a three-pointer that potentially could have iced the victory. Southern Oregon got the ball with 29 seconds left trailing by one point and coming out of a timeout, the Raiders ran a play that resulted in a missed jumper in the key that Cronrath grabbed to seal the Warriors' first conference win of the season.

Southern Oregon was led offensively by Highland with a game-high 17 points, while Hawley and Dex Daum contributed with 14 and 13 points respectively. On the boards, Hawley pulled down a game-high tying eight rebounds to go along with Jeff Bush's team-high three assists in running the Raiders' offense.

As a team, Corban shot 25-for-52 (48.1%) from the field to go along with a 7-for-17 (41.2%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a combined 18-for-33 (54.5%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Southern Oregon was a combined 29-for-63 (46.0%) from the field, 9-for-23 (39.1%) from long distance, and 7-for-9 (77.8%) at the charity stripe.

With tonight's result, Corban improves to 11-6 overall and 1-4 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Southern Oregon falls to 9-6 overall and 3-3 in league games. The Warriors will return to action on Friday, January 7th, on the road against the Knights of Warner Pacific beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Portland.