BOX SCORE

NEWBERG, Ore. – Coming off an 11-day break between games, Corban's men's basketball team could not overcome a hot shooting first half by George Fox eventually falling to the host Bruins, 95-82, in non-conference action Tuesday inside the Wheeler Sports Center.

Corban (3-3) was led in scoring by freshman Caleb Herzberg with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field that included a quartet of three-pointers. Junior Jordan Carter added 18 points, while sophomore Cyrus Ward chipped in with 17 points hitting 7-of-9 from the floor and seven rebounds in his season debut. Senior Josiah Sebens had a game-high nine rebounds, while sophomore Andrew Evans handed out four assists and made three steals in his return from an injury that forced him to miss the last five games. Freshman Caleb Dozier also had three steals, as Corban shot 40.3% (31-for-77) from the field, but only 25.8% (8-of-31) from beyond the arc and 60.0% (12-of-20) from the stripe.

George Fox had a trio of players setting career highs in points with Spencer Bolte scoring a game-high 27 points, while Jason Martin and Eli Graham chipped in with 25 and 17 points, respectively. Each of the aforementioned three players also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds with the Bruins holding a 44-41 edge on the boards. Grant passed out a game-high six assists and made three steals, as Martin had a pair of blocked shots for the host Bruins. As a team, George Fox finished with a 50.0% shooting percentage (29-of-58) from the field that included hitting 12-of-28 from long distance (42.9%) and canned 25-of-31 free throws (80.6%).

The host Bruins jumped out to a 7-3 lead on a pair of Graham free throws, a three-pointer by Martin, and a fast-break layup by Bolte, establishing a pattern for the game, but the Warriors forged an 8-8 tie with 14:49 left in the half on a three by Carter and two free tosses by Herzberg. George Fox then reeled off 13 unanswered points over the next two-and-a-half minutes to take control with a 21-8 advantage. The run featured long-distance threes by J.J. Lacey and Martin and a conventional three-point play by Graham.

The Warriors trimmed the deficit to eight at 21-13 with 11:19 remaining on a layup and a three by Herzberg, but Bolte nullified that with a layup and trey of his own, doubling the score to 26-13 at the 10:30 mark, and the lead never dropped into single digits again. Leading 44-31 with just under four minutes to go, the Bruins closed the half with a 14-6 outburst, nine of the points by Bolte, and led at the break 58-37.

With Bolte scoring 18, Martin 17 (including four threes), and Graham 12 in the half, the Bruins shot 56.7% (17-of-30) from the field while holding the Warriors, who entered the game shooting almost 54.0% for the season, to only 37.1% (13-for-35) from the field. Herzberg had 15 points to lead the visitors.

The Bruins scored the first five points of the second half on a free throw by Seth Brent and baskets by Graham and A.J. Grant, extending the lead to 63-37 two minutes in. Grant's three at 15:51 made it a 29-point lead of 68-39. The Warriors trimmed the margin to 18 at 72-54 with a 15-4 run over the next four minutes, six of the points on two baskets and two free throws by Cyrus Ward, but back-to-back layups by Brent and Bolte got the Bruin lead back up to 22 with 10:40 left.

Corban then made a 20-8 run over the next five-and-a-half minutes, bringing the margin to 10 at 84-74 with 5:18 to play on a three-point play by Carter. Martin hit his sixth three-pointer, however, Bolte followed with a fast-break jam, and Martin canned two charity tosses to end the Corban streak and get the George Fox lead back up to 91-74 with 3:35 to play, safely salting the game away.

The Warriors will return to the hardwood on Friday, November 29th, in their opening game at the 3rd annual Capital City Classic against cross town rival Willamette beginning at 4:15 p.m. on the campus of Western Oregon University in Monmouth.