PORTLAND, Ore. – The Corban University men's basketball team kept the game close for much of the contest on Friday night, but the Warriors ultimately fell victim to solid shooting from Warner Pacific College, losing to the Knights, 69-51.  The loss is Corban's third-straight Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) defeat.

Sophomore guard Toby Roth (Silverton, Ore.) got the Warriors on the board early with a shot from downtown, extending Corban's streak with a three-pointer made to 923 consecutive games.  Despite that long-range effort, the Knights (14-4, 4-2 CCC) led after five minutes, 10-5.  Roth nailed another shot from long distance not long after, however, keeping Corban close.

Near the eight-minute mark in the first stanza, junior forward Cyrus Ward (Gig Harbor, Wash.) scored four-straight points inside, pulling the Warriors to within two points at the second media timeout.  Ward began the game for the Navy and Gold going 4-for-4 with eight points early on.  Sophomore forward Cody Crowe (Grants Pass, Ore.) then put the warriors up briefly as he nailed a three-pointer from the right side, but Warner Pacific answered immediately with a bucket of its own to regain the advantage.

Roth again found himself open from three-point land, so he shot and made his third three-ball of the first half, tying the contest at 25-25.

Warner Pacific closed out the first half on an 11-2 run, taking a 36-27 lead into the halftime intermission.  During those first 20 minutes, the Warriors shot 50.0% from the field, while the Knights shot 53.8% from the floor.  While shooting 50.0%, Corban only totaled 22 total shots during the first stanza, as it was a very half-court oriented contest with buckets coming at a premium.

Corban began the second half strong, cutting the deficit to six points at the 14:55 mark after Ward, senior guard Jordan Carter (Salem, Ore.), and Roth all finished strong at the rim, breaking down the Knights' zone defense.  Warner Pacific continued to respond, however, pushing the lead back to 11 points over the course of the next three minutes.

Carter began attacking for the Navy and Gold, scoring with a pair of strong takes to the rim, but still at the seven-minute mark, Corban trailed by 14 points.  Carter then came up with a point-blank block at the defensive end of the floor and another layup on the other end, keeping the game within reach for the Warriors.

Warner Pacific began to pull away at the four-minute mark though, extending the advantage to 19 points with 2:44 left on the clock, and that would be too large of a deficit to recover from, ultimately sealing Corban's 18-point defeat.

Ward and Carter both finished with a team-leading 15 points on the night, while Roth tallied 11 points.  Ward also recorded another double-double, registering 10 boards for the game.  As a team, the Navy and Gold shot 42.6% from the field, while the Knights shot 52.7%% from the floor.

For the Knights, it was Earl Jones who scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Coletun Tarr added 16 points.

"We came out and played really hard tonight," said head coach Steve Masten.  "Warner is a very quick and talented team and they spurted on us a couple of times during the game and that was the difference tonight.  If we continue to give this type of effort, we'll have some success in league."

Corban (9-6, 2-4 CCC) returns to the hardwood tomorrow evening when it goes on the road to play Concordia University.  Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.