BOX SCORE

EUGENE, Ore. – Junior Josiah Sebens scored a career-high 29 points and senior Jacob Kopra added 26 points and seven rebounds, as Corban's men's basketball team earned a hard-fought victory over Cascade Collegiate Conference rival Northwest Christian, 73-70, Saturday inside the Morse Event Center.

With today's result, Corban improves to 5-7 overall and 2-3 in CCC games. Meanwhile, Northwest Christian falls to 7-10 overall and 1-4 in league play.

Sebens would earn his career-high scoring night thanks to a 10-for-18 performance from the field that included a career-high seven three-pointers, while Kopra was 9-of-18 from the field and 5-of-12 from beyond the arc en route to his second 20-point effort of the season. No other Warrior scored in double figures, as freshman Andrew Evans chipped in with six points and a game-high eight assists to go along with a six-point, six-rebound, four-assist effort by senior Marcus Butler.

The game would begin going back-and-forth over the opening 11 minutes with neither team holding more than a four-point lead. Northwest Christian would break a 16-16 tie with a 6-1 run en route to grabbing a five-point lead (22-17) at the nine-minute mark on a Greg Shepard lay-in. Corban would battle back to tie the score for the fifth time at 24-all thanks to a 7-2 run that concluded with a Sebens lay-in before the host Beacons scored four unanswered points to grab a 28-24 lead with just over four minutes on the clock. After NCU grabbed a three-point lead (33-30) on a three-pointer by Trevor Parker with 1:23 left, Corban scored the final four points of the first half on a lay-in by Sebens and a buzzer-beating jumper by Evans en route to securing a one-point lead (34-33) at halftime.

In the second half, the back-and-forth battle would continue with Corban snapping a 45-45 tie with a three-pointer by Sebens that jump started an 8-2 run by the Warriors that resulted in a 53-47 lead for the visiting team with 12:13 on the clock. A 6-0 run by Northwest Christian would knot the game for the sixth time in the second half before Corban used a 5-0 run of its own to secure a 58-53 lead on a lay-in by Butler with 9:29 left. NCU would use a 7-2 run to tie the score for the 13th time at 60-60 before the host Beacons continued the run that resulted in a four-point lead (64-60) on a lay-in by Jordan Buhler with 6:06 left. Corban would use its never say die attitude using an 8-2 run to take a two-point lead (68-66) on a Kopra three-pointer before Northwest Christian tied the score for the 14th and final time at 68-all on a jumper by Travis Pacos with under three minutes left. Thirty-nine seconds later, Shepard would give Northwest Christian a two-point lead (70-68) before Kopra hit the eventual game-winning shot via a three-pointer that resulted in a 71-70 lead for the visiting Warriors. After a strong defensive effort by Corban stopped Northwest Christian, a crucial offensive rebound followed by a lay-in by Butler would give the Warriors a three-point lead (73-70) with 26 seconds left. A missed game-tying three-pointer by NCU's Parker followed by a defensive rebound by Sebens sealed the win for Corban, as the host Beacons were forced to foul the rest of the way and could not get off a shot resulting in the Warriors' 73-70 victory.

Pacos would lead Northwest Christian with 14 points off the bench, while three other Beacons – Buhler, Parker, and Shepard – also scored in double figures with 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Buhler would lead all players with a game-high eight rebounds, while Pacos handed out a team-high six assists for the Beacons.

As a team, Corban combined to shoot 27-for-61 (44.3%) from the field that included a 13-for-27 (48.1%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 6-for-9 (66.7%) performance at the free throw line. The Warriors would knock down eight shots from three-point range in the second half, as Corban shot 8-of-15 (53.3%) from long distance in the game's final twenty minutes. On the other hand, Northwest Christian was a combined 29-of-65 (44.6%) from the field, 8-of-18 (44.4%) from long distance, and 4-of-10 (40.0%) at the charity stripe.

Corban will take an eight-day break from competition over the holiday break before returning to action on Sunday, December 30th, in an exhibition game against NCAA Division I member Boise State beginning at 2:00 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time) inside the Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho.