BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Playoff hopes are still alive for Corban's men's basketball team, as the Warriors snapped nationally-ranked Warner Pacific's conference-high eight-game winning streak with a thrilling 85-83 double overtime victory Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

Freshman Jordan Carter (Salem, Ore.) scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed a game and career-high 16 rebounds, while five other Warriors – senior Nash Keene (Aumsville, Ore.), sophomore Jacob Kopra (Gresham, Ore.), junior Jake Mauermann (Clackamas, Ore.), senior Ian Logan (Aloha, Ore.), and junior Erik Cronrath (Battle Ground, Wash.) – scored in double figures with 16, 13, 11, 10, and 10 points respectively. On the boards, Carter was aided by Keene, Kopra, and Logan with six boards each to go along with a game-high six assists by senior Bryan Martin (Salem, Ore.).

The opening seven minutes was a dog fight between both teams, as Corban and Warner Pacific traded buckets until the host Warriors held a slim one-point lead (12-11) after a Carter tip-in with just over 13 minutes left. Over the next seven minutes, Corban used a 19-9 run en route to securing an 11-point lead (31-20) thanks to a Kopra lay-in with 6:41 left. The home team would settle for a 10-point halftime cushion (38-28) after Kopra capped the opening half's scoring with a baseline jumper.

Over the opening five-plus minutes of the second half, Corban built its lead at intermission by another 11 points (55-34) thanks to a Keene fast break lay-in at the 14:41 mark. Warner Pacific's veteran head coach Bart Valentine changed his defensive strategy from man-to-man to a 1-2-2 trapping zone that seemed to work, as the visiting Knights slowly clawed their way back into the game via a 36-14 run that knotted the game at 69-all with 18 ticks on the clock thanks to a pair of Stephen Harris free throws. Corban had a chance to win the game in regulation only to have Carter's jumper in the paint came up short and end up in the hands of Sean Gaines, who attempted to win the game with a length-of-the-floor, last-ditch effort that came up short after his lay-in hit the bottom of the rim just after the horn sounded to send the game into extra play.

In the first overtime, both teams clawed and scratched their way to a 74-74 tie with 1:21 left on the clock. Still having to deal with Warner Pacific's zone defense, Corban struggled to get a good look at the basket until Kopra unleashed a three-pointer from the corner that found nothing but the bottom of the net to give the host Warriors a three-point lead (77-74) with 12 ticks left. Warner Pacific would in-bound the ball over the half court line and called its final timeout to set-up a potential game-tying play. Out of the time out, Warner Pacific's Traevone Bowie unleashed a 30-foot three-point attempt from the wing that fell into the awaiting arms of Nate Holthenrichs, who dribbled behind the three-point line and knocked down a step-back game-tying shot from long range with 1.1 seconds remaining. A last-second, full-court attempt by Corban sailed wide left to force a second overtime period with the score knotted at 77-77.

The second and final extra period would begin with neither teams scoring much, as Warner Pacific held a slim one-point lead (81-80) thanks to a Harris lay-in with 3:23 remaining. Corban would battle back less than 90 seconds later to take a two-point lead (83-81) on another crowd-erupting three-pointer with 1:41 on the clock. Warner Pacific's Webster Moreland would tie the game for the fifth and final time at 83-all thanks to a pair of free throws with 81 seconds left. A Corban turnover ten seconds later would give Warner Pacific a chance to take the lead only to have a three-point attempt by Nick Schultens go off the back iron and into the hands of Carter with less than a minute to play. With the ball in his hands, Carter drove through a collapsing Warner Pacific defense and floated a shot towards the basket that rattled around before falling through the net for a two-point Warrior lead (85-83) with 32 ticks left. Warner Pacific would get a chance to tie the game 28 seconds later only to have Corban's crowd of over 700 spectators aid Harris into missing a pair of free throws. In the battle for the loose ball, Keene and a Knight player both got possession at the same time forcing a jump ball that went the way of Warner Pacific with just over one second on the clock. After calling its final timeout, the visiting Knights set-up a potential game-winning play that saw Schultens take the in-bounds pass and get off a good look from three-point range only to have the ball go off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded to give Corban a hard-fought 85-83 victory in double overtime.

Moreland led Warner Pacific in scoring with 15 points, while Biniam Tadele and Josh Black added 14 and 13 points respectively. Moreland also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, while Black dished out a team-best four assists.

As a team, Corban shot 32-for-71 (45.1%) from the field to go along with an 11-for-24 (45.8%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 10-for-15 (66.7%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Warner Pacific was a combined 27-for-86 (31.4%) from the field, 9-for-33 (27.3%) from long distance, and 20-for-28 (71.4%) at the charity stripe.

With tonight's upset victory, Corban improves to 15-12 overall and 5-10 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Warner Pacific has its eight-game winning streak snapped en route to falling to 16-8 overall and 9-5 in league play. The Warriors will be back in action on Friday, February 11th, when they take on the NAIA's No. 15-ranked Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon beginning at 7:30 p.m. inside Quinn Coliseum in La Grande.