BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Despite four Warriors scoring in double figures, Corban's nationally-ranked men's basketball team had its run at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament come to an end thanks to a 75-62 loss against the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon Wednesday inside Quinn Coliseum.
With tonight's result, No.5-seed Corban falls to 18-13 overall and 4th-seeded Eastern Oregon improves to 19-9 on the season. The Mountaineers move onto the CCC Tournament semifinals where they will face top-seeded and No. 3-ranked Oregon Tech on Saturday, February 25th, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Klamath Falls.
This week's NAIA Division II Player of the Week sophomore
Jordan Carter and junior
Jacob Kopra led the Warriors with 15 points each, while senior
Jake Mauermann and
Erik Cronrath added 11 and 10 points, respectively, to go along with Cronrath's game-high nine rebounds and team-best three assists. Seniors
Brelin Powell and
James Green came off the Warriors' bench to provide six and three points, respectively, while junior
Marcus Butler added two points in the game.
Over the game opening six-plus minutes, Eastern Oregon jumped out to a quick 12-point lead (14-2) thanks to a jumper in the paint by Salem-native Trent Roos with 13:21 on the clock. Corban would slowly move to within six points (21-15) thanks to a 13-7 run over a span of four-plus minutes, as Kopra capped the run with a fast-break three-pointer at the 8:44 mark. Unfortunately for the Warriors, that would be as close as Corban would get in the first half thanks to a closing 17-10 run by the host Mountaineers that handed Eastern Oregon a 13-point advantage (38-25) at intermission.
Throughout the second half, Corban could not get the deficit under double digits as the Warriors got within 11 points (62-51) on another Kopra three-pointer with just under six minutes remaining. Kopra's third triple of the game at the 4:17 mark would bring Corban to within 11 points again (65-54), but Eastern Oregon would outscore the visiting Warriors by two points over the final four-plus minutes en route to securing its 13-point victory (75-62).
Jamar Johnson led three Eastern Oregon players in double figures with a game-high 16 points, while Anthony Brown and Ervin Felder added 12 points each to go along with a team-high five rebounds apiece. Cody Thurmond would guide the Mountaineer offense with a game-high six assists, while Travares Peterson registered a game-high three steals on the defensive end.
As a team, Corban combined to shoot 22-for-60 (36.7%) from the field to go along with a 9-for-26 (34.6%) showing from beyond the three-point line and a 9-for-14 (64.3%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon was a combined 32-for-58 (55.2%) from the field, 7-for-19 (36.8%) from long distance, and a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
Despite being eliminated from NAIA postseason play, Corban's season is not over as the Warriors will now wait to find out who their opponent is at this year's National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) West Regional Tournament. Corban will be traveling to Southern California to take on either NCAA Division II member California Baptist or Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) member Hope International. The game will be on Tuesday, March 6th, at 7:30 p.m. either in Riverside or Fullerton, California.
