BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Despite a career-high 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field by junior
Jacob Kopra, Corban's men's basketball team could not overcome a hot shooting night by the NAIA's No. 23-ranked Eastern Oregon falling 79-64 Saturday inside Quinn Coliseum.
For the first time in his career, Kopra surpassed the 20-point plateau bettering his previous career-high of 19 points scored earlier this season. The 6-foot-4 forward was also 6-for-7 at the free throw line, while knocking down half of his four three-point attempts.
Along with Kopra, senior
Erik Cronrath added 14 points and junior
Dustin Moore connected on a trifecta of three-pointers en route to scoring nine points. Sophomore
Jordan Carter chipped in with eight points, while three Warrior reserves – junior
Marcus Butler, senior
Brelin Powell, and sophomore
Josiah Sebens – added five, two, and two points, respectively. Rebounding-wise, Carter pulled down a game-high seven boards to go along with a team-best three assists by Cronrath.
A see-saw battle over the game's opening four minutes would result in a 9-9 tie before Eastern Oregon used a 7-2 run en route to grabbing a five-point lead (16-11) on an Anthony Brown fast-break lay-in with 15:03 on the clock. The host Mountaineers would continue to hold the lead pushing to as much as eight points (27-19) with 8:56 remaining before Corban used a 7-0 run over a span of three-plus minutes to pull within a single point (27-26) on a Butler jumper in the paint with 5:26 left. An 8-0 EOU run would give the Mounties a nine-point advantage (35-26) following a Travares Peterson lay-in at the 2:29 mark. Corban would close out the first half scoring six of the final eight points, but would trail by five points (37-32) heading into intermission.
Despite opening the second half by scoring the first two points to pull within three points (37-34), Corban would not get any closer allowing Eastern Oregon to build a game-high 17-point lead (77-60) thanks to a Cody Thurmond lay-in with 4:12 remaining. The Warriors' final points would come via a Butler jumper in the paint with just over two minutes left to pull Corban within 13 points (77-64), as Eastern Oregon would hold on for the 15-point win (79-64).
Eastern Oregon's Jamar Johnson would lead all players in scoring with a game-high 25 points, while three other Mountaineers – Brown, Thurmond, and Peterson – would also score in double figures registering 14, 13, and 10 points, respectively. Johnson also pulled down a team-high six rebounds for EOU, while Thurmond dished out a game-high nine assists.
As a team, Corban combined to shoot 22-for-55 (40.0%) from the field to go along with a 7-for-26 (26.9%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 13-for-18 (72.2%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon was 33-for-58 (56.9%) from the field, 6-for-13 (46.2%) from long distance, and a perfect 7-for-7 at the charity stripe.
With tonight's result, Corban falls to 11-8 overall and 3-4 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon improves to 12-5 overall and 5-3 in league games. The Warriors will be back in action on Friday, January 13th, against the NAIA's No. 17-ranked and conference co-leaders Warner Pacific beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.
