BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Senior Dustin Moore and freshman Andrew Evans combined to score 43 points, as Corban's men's basketball team moved one step closer to the playoffs with a 67-60 victory over Cascade Collegiate Conference rival Northwest Christian Friday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

With tonight's victory, Corban earns the season sweep over the visiting Beacons improving to 8-12 overall and 4-8 in CCC contests. On the other hand, Northwest Christian falls to 8-16 overall and 2-10 in league games.

Besides the aforementioned duo of Moore and Evans, no other Warrior scored in double figures with senior Marcus Butler chipping in with nine points. Freshman Taylor Fox came off Corban's bench to score six points on a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, while senior Jacob Kopra and sophomore Mitch Tugaw added three points each to go along with a two-point night by senior Geoffrey Martin. On the boards, Moore pulled down a team-high eight rebounds with Evans and Martin handing out a game-high tying four assists each.

After a back-and-forth battle over the opening four-plus minutes that resulted in a 6-6 tie, Northwest Christian used an 8-0 run over a span of four minutes to earn an eight-point lead (14-6) on a lay-in by Greg Shepard with 11:18 on the clock. After two Shepard free throws gave NCU a five-point advantage (18-13) at the 8:05 mark, Corban scored nine unanswered points over a span of nearly six minutes to take a four-point lead (22-18) on a jumper by Martin with 2:38 left. The host Warriors would extend their lead to five points (25-20) on a three-pointer by Tugaw before Northwest Christian closed out the half with a jumper by Travis Pacos giving Corban a three-point lead (25-22) at halftime.

The second half would begin with a flurry by both teams, as Corban hit nine of its first 16 shots and Northwest Christian knocked down 10-of-14 from the field over the opening 10 minutes to make it a two-point game (45-43) in favor of the home team. After a 30-second timeout by head coach Justin Sherwood, Corban pushed its lead to six points on three-pointers by Evans and Moore that sandwiched a jumper by NCU's Trevor Parker making the score 51-45 in favor of the Warriors. Corban would attempt to slow the game down with a one-man offense and the Warriors would continue to hold a six-point advantage (57-51) on a jumper in the paint by Evans before Northwest Christian scored four quick points to pull within a single bucket (57-55) with 3:14 left. The methodic offense by the host Warriors would continue and pay off, as Corban increased its lead to eight points (65-57) on a three-pointer and two free throws by Moore and two more free throws by Martin. Northwest Christian's offense would begin to falter over the game's final 30 seconds, as Corban used timely rebounding and free throw shooting to earn the hard-fought seven-point win (67-60).

Northwest Christian was led offensively by Jordan Buhler with 16 points, while Parker and Shepard added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Shepard would lead all players in rebounds with nine, while Buhler handed out a game-high tying four assists for the Beacons.

As a team, Corban combined to shoot 24-for-46 (52.2%) from the field that included a scorching 15-of-26 (57.7%) in the second half. The Warriors also knocked down 8-of-15 shots from beyond the three-point line to extend its record streak to 862 straight games with at least one three-pointer made, while also hitting 11-of-16 (68.8%) of their free throws. On the other hand, Northwest Christian was a combined 27-of-59 (45.8%) from the field, 2-of-15 (13.3%) from long distance, and 4-of-13 (30.8%) at the charity stripe.

Corban will return to action tomorrow – Saturday, January 26th – in a non-conference game against New Hope Christian beginning at approximately 7:00 p.m. inside the Rexius Event Center in Eugene.