SALEM, Ore. – With the cross-town rivalry game comfortably in hand for much of the second half, the Corban University men's basketball team cruised to an 85-69 victory over Willamette University on Tuesday night.  As Capital Community Television (CCTV) was broadcasting the game in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, the Warriors built a 10-point halftime lead before blowing it open in the second half and securing the 16-point win over the NCAA Division III foe.

While controlling much of the contest, Corban won the war down on the blocks all night long, ultimately winning the points-in-the-paint battle, 36-20.  Those 16 points proved to be the difference in the game.  Additionally, Corban held the significant edge in quantity of attempts at the charity stripe, going 26-of-38 from the line, while the Bearcats went just 15-of-22.

The Warriors jumped on top early, as sophomore guard Toby Roth (Silverton, Ore.) and freshman guard AJ Monterossi (Beaverton, Ore.) converted early layups, and junior forward Jeremiah Harris (Portland, Ore.) went 2-for-2 from the line inside of three minutes, giving the Navy and Gold a 6-0 advantage.

The Bearcats clawed back into the game though, taking an 8-7 lead with 14:04 left in the first stanza, but Warrior junior forward Cyrus Ward (Gig Harbor, Wash.) responded for Corban with two-consecutive layups to regain the lead for the home team.  A few minutes later, sophomore guard Taylor Fox (Astoria, Wash.) drained a shot from distance, putting Corban up 20-18.  The Warriors extended their lead to 29-20 with 5:22 remaining in the first half when senior guard Jordan Carter (Salem, Ore.) made a layup on the fast break.

With just over three minutes left in the half, freshman guard Kade Crossland (Buhl, Idaho) sank a jumper from downtown, keeping the Warriors in front by eight at the time.  Ward capped off the solid first stanza for the Navy and Gold with a thunderous dunk, bringing the crowd to its feet as it saw Corban take a 40-30 lead into the halftime break.

Corban shot 40.0% from the field while holding Willamette to a 29.7% effort from the floor.

Not wanting to let the Bearcats have any sense of hope of a comeback, Corban began the second half with a three-pointer and then a fast-break dunk by Carter.  Monterossi followed those plays up with another fast-break layup for Corban, forcing Willamette to call a timeout.  Roth extended the advantage to 50-32 when he hit a shot from deep after just three minutes of play in the second stanza.

A layup by Harris a few minutes later increased the advantage to 23 points, a lead which Corban would match on a couple of other occasions while staying consistently in front by big numbers for the remainder of regulation.

Carter added another three late in the contest, and by that point, the Warriors had more than secured the victory as they were up comfortably.  For good measure, sophomore guard Caleb Herzberg (Beaverton, Ore.) and Roth both added a couple of more shots from distance for the Navy and Gold, and Ward finished the contest out with another authoritative dunk, sending all the fans home happy with the 16-point win.

Watch the full game highlights here:

Carter led the way with a game-high 19 points for Corban, while Harris tacked on 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.  Roth and Ward both tallied 14 points for Corban, while Monterossi added 13.

"The guys played a great defensive game tonight," stated head coach Steve Masten.  "The coaches challenged them recently to dedicate themselves at the defensive end of the floor, and tonight's game was evidence that they are buying in.  We held a pretty good offensive team to 35% from the floor.  Also, we had balanced scoring effort with five players in double figures."

As a team, Corban shot 48.1% from the field, while Willamette (1-3) went just 35.3% from the floor.

Alex Brown notched a team-best 17 points for the Bearcats, while Brendon McCullough tallied 14.

Corban (5-2) returns to the court on December 5 when it opens up its 2014-15 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) campaign in Eugene against Northwest Christian University.  Tipoff against the Beacons is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.