SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University men's basketball team led for almost the entire game on Saturday evening, but a late Southern Oregon University surge led the Raiders to a 69-66 triumph over the Warriors in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center. The defeat is Corban's second of the weekend and drops the Warriors to a 2-3 record in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) action.
No. 16 Southern Oregon opened the game with a free throw, but Warrior senior guard Jordan Carter (Salem, Ore.) responded with Corban's first basket of the game, draining a shot from deep. With the made three-pointer, it extended Corban's streak with at least one three-pointer made in a game to 922-consecutive games – the longest streak in all of collegiate basketball.
After Corban built a lead early on, the Raiders responded and nabbed a 12-7 advantage by the 12:57 mark in the first half. Corban sophomore guard Caleb Herzberg (Beaverton, Ore.) and freshman guard Kade Crossland (Buhl, Idaho) then both came off the bench and nailed back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, giving the Warriors a one-point advantage.
Sophomore guard Toby Roth (Silverton, Ore.) chipped in a pair of mid-range shots later in the half, and then Carter scored seven-straight points, putting the Warriors up by nine. A couple of more Herzberg shots from distance, and Corban had built its lead to 14 points with 1:20 left in the half. SOU closed the stanza on a 4-0 run, however, cutting the deficit to 10 points.
Unfazed, the Navy and Gold came out firing in the second half, with Carter sinking a three-point shot to begin the half just like he did the first stanza. Junior forward Cyrus Ward (Gig Harbor, Wash.) followed that up with a layup, and Corban led by 15 inside of the first minute.
SOU began making its runs however, but Corban continued to respond midway through the half with big-time baskets from Herzberg and Carter. With 7:19 left in regulation, freshman guard AJ Monterossi (Beaverton, Ore.) sank a jumper in the paint to keep Corban up by 10 points, but then SOU again inched closer.
By the 1:46 mark in regulation, the Raiders had tied the game, but on the next possession with the shot clock winding down, Monterossi took the ball with a strong move to the rack and finished with a reverse layup, putting Corban up by two points with 1:13 left.
Immediately, however, SOU's Eric Thompson received a pass and drained a wide-open three-pointer with 1:03 left on the clock, and that was the bucket the Raiders were looking for.
Two offensive possessions later, the Warriors came up empty on both occasions, and after a pair of Raider free throws, SOU held on for the three-point win.
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"The team came out and competed hard tonight after a disappointing outing last night," said head coach Steve Masten. "I was pleased with the effort. We didn't do the little things down the stretch that would have secured the win against a good team, but we'll learn from this and get better."
In a very evenly played contest, one of the keys for the Raiders proved to be scoring in the paint, as the Raiders held the 26-18 edge over Corban in the category. Corban did shoot well from the outside though, making 10-of-23 from beyond the arc as compared to just a 7-for-21 mark for the Raiders.
Overall, the Navy and Gold shot 39.7% from the field, while Southern Oregon went 23-for-47 on the evening from the floor for a 48.9% mark. Corban held the rebounding edge, 33-31, and racked up 16 assists to just 12 for Southern Oregon.
Leading the way individually for the Warriors was Carter who scored 20 points on a 7-for-12 shooting effort. Herzberg provided the Warriors with a strong performance as well, scoring 15 points on a 5-for-10 shooting performance from the floor, with all five buckets coming from downtown.
Eric Thompson registered a team-best 20 points for the Raiders (14-3, 4-2 CCC) on the night, while Jordan West was dominant inside, scoring 15 points on a 6-for-8 shooting effort.
Corban (9-5, 2-3 CCC) takes to the road next week for a pair of games in Portland vs. Warner Pacific College and Concordia University. Tipoff on Friday against Warner Pacific is set for 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's game against the Cavaliers is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start time as well.
