BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. – Despite making 12 shots from behind the three-point line, Corban's men's basketball could not overcome an offensive rebound and lay-in with 1.4 seconds left by Concordia falling 69-68 to the host Cavaliers Saturday inside Cavalier Gymnasium.
With tonight's result, Corban falls to 6-11 overall and 2-7 in Cascade Collegiate Conference games. On the other hand, Concordia improves to 9-9 overall and 4-5 in league contests.
As a team, Corban combined to hit 22-of-54 (40.7%) of its shots that included a 12-of-25 (48.0%) performance from beyond the three-point line and a 12-of-15 (80.0%) showing at the free throw line. Three different Warriors – junior
Josiah Sebens, senior
Jacob Kopra, and freshman
Andrew Evans – all hit three-or-more shots from beyond the arc, as Sebens knocked down a game-high five en route to scoring a team-high 25 points to go along with a team-best 10 rebounds en route to registering the second double-double of his career.
Along with Sebens, Kopra and Evans also scored in double figures with 18 and 11 points, respectively. Sebens was aided on the boards by Kopra with seven rebounds and senior
Marcus Butler with six points and six rebounds. Evans and senior
Dustin Moore would hand out a game-high tying four assists each, while Kopra registered game-high totals of four blocked shots and two steals.
Over the opening seven minutes, Corban would jump out to a 14-point lead (24-10) on a 5-of-7 performance from beyond the arc led by a pair of long balls by Sebens and Evans that included a three-pointer at the 13:09 mark by Sebens to end the opening run. After another three-pointer by Sebens at the 6:02 mark that gave Corban a 12-point lead (32-20), Concordia used a 9-2 run over a span of three minutes to pull within five points (34-29) on an old-fashion three-point play by CU's Adam Herman with 3:19 on the clock. Corban would push its lead to seven points (38-31) on a jumper by sophomore
Blake Purnell with 15 seconds left before the visiting Warriors settled for a five-point cushion at halftime (38-33).
Corban would begin the second half by building its lead back to double figures (48-37) on a three-pointer by Sebens with 15:45 left before Concordia used a 21-10 run over a span of 12 minutes to tie the score for the second time all night at 58-all with 3:39 left. Both teams would battle back and forth over the next three minutes with neither team earning more than a one-point lead, as Butler gave Corban its final lead of the night at 68-67 with back-to-back free throws with 21 seconds left. After a timeout by Corban, Concordia went through its offense with Willy Ligon launching a three-pointer from the wing that bounced off the rim before finding the open arms of Kory Korwin as he laid the ball into the basket with 1.4 seconds left giving the host Cavaliers a 69-68 lead. Following a timeout by each team, Corban attempted to set-up a full-court potential game-winning play, but Moore's last-second three-pointer went short and left allowing Concordia to earn the hard-fought, nail-biting one-point victory (69-68).
Concordia's Adam Herman led all players with a game-high 33 points and 12 rebounds, while Ligon added nine points and four other Cavaliers – Justyn Searle, Robbie Jackson, Anthony Holston, and Kirwan – scored six points each. Kirwan was the only Cavalier besides Herman to pull down more than four rebounds, as he registered five boards to go along with a team-best three assists by Kirwan, Herman, and Jackson.
The host Cavaliers would combine to shoot 24-of-57 (42.1%) from the field, while going 4-of-15 (26.7%) from beyond the three-point line and 17-of-20 (85.0%) at the free throw line.
Corban will return to action on Friday, January 18th, against nationally-ranked Northwest beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.
