BOX SCORE
LA GRANDE, Ore. – For nearly thirty-seven minutes, Corban's men's basketball team hung with No. 1-ranked Eastern Oregon before succumbing to a 10-0 run late in the second half en route to suffering a 69-54 loss Friday inside Quinn Coliseum.
Corban (8-14, 4-9 CCC) was led offensively by seniors
Marcus Butler and
Dustin Moore with 12 points each, while junior
Josiah Sebens returned from a two-game absence due to an injury with 11 points on 2-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Freshman
Cyrus Ward put together an eight-point, eight-rebound effort, while fellow freshman
Kent Foster chipped in with eight points and six rebounds in a reserve role. Moore and freshman
Andrew Evans led the Warriors with three assists apiece, while also registering a game-high tying two steals each.
Eastern Oregon (25-1, 13-1 CCC) was led in scoring by Anthony Brown with a game-high 14 points, while Salem-native Trent Roos and Zach Anderson chipped in with 10 points each. On the boards, Brown pulled down a game-high tying eight rebounds to go along with a three-assist performance.
Despite never holding the lead, Corban stayed within single digits throughout the first half against nationally-ranked Eastern Oregon cutting its deficit to three points on four different occasions that included an 18-15 score with 8:29 on the clock after Foster knocked down a pair of free throws. The host Mountaineers would quickly push their lead to nine points (25-16) thanks to a 7-1 run over a span of 75 seconds that concluded with a pair of free throws by Brown at the 7:14 mark. Corban would get within five points at 30-25 on a jumper in the paint by Butler with 3:42 left before Eastern Oregon settled for an eight-point lead (35-27) at halftime.
The second half would begin with the visiting Warriors pulling within three points (37-34) on back-to-back free throws by Moore with 16:10 left. Eastern Oregon would then go on an 11-3 run over the next three minutes to pull ahead by 10 points (48-38) before Corban got within seven points (57-50) thanks to a 12-9 run of its own that was capped by a three-pointer from Sebens at the 4:20 mark. Unfortunately that would be as close as the visiting Warriors would get, as Eastern Oregon used the aforementioned 10-0 run over a span of just over three minutes to pull ahead by 17 points (67-50) on a coffin-closing three-pointer by John Buhler that sealed the win for the Mountaineers. Despite a three-pointer by freshman
Taylor Fox and a free throw by Foster in the final minute, Eastern Oregon would settle for the hard-fought 15-point win (69-54).
Even though the final score did not reflect the heart and effort put in by Corban, the difference came both on the offensive glass and transition game by Eastern Oregon. The host Mountaineers pulled down one more offensive rebound (10-to-9) than the Warriors resulting in two more second chance points, while also holding a 12-0 advantage in fast-break points for the difference in the final score.
As a team, Corban combined to shoot 20-for-55 (36.4%) from the field and knocked down four of their 16 shots from beyond the three-point line en route to extending its national-record to 867 straight games with at least one three-pointer made. The Warriors were also 10-of-17 (58.8%) at the free throw line that included a 7-of-10 performance in the first half. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon was a combined 27-of-56 (48.2%) from the field that included a scorching 14-of-24 (58.3%) in the second half, 10-of-23 (43.5%) from long distance that included an amazing 60.0% (6-of-10) over the final twenty minutes, and 5-of-8 (62.5%) at the charity stripe.
Corban will return to the hardwood tomorrow – Saturday, February 2nd – against the Coyotes of The College of Idaho beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time) inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center in Caldwell, Idaho.
