SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University basketball team scored just two points in the fourth quarter on Friday evening and only seven points in the second half, surrendering its eight-point halftime lead as Eastern Oregon University (7-5, 3-0 CCC) surged past the Warriors in the second half en route to the 63-47 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) triumph. With the win, EOU remained undefeated in CCC play, while Corban is still in search of its first conference victory.
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EOU utilized 18 second-chance points and 42 points in the paint while owning the dominant rebounding edge, 50-32. On the night, the Mountaineers racked up 71 total shots as compared to just 53 total shots for Corban. The Warriors did hold the free-throw advantage, shooting 9-of-10 from the charity strip as opposed to a 0-for-4 effort from the Mountaineers, but it ultimately did not matter as the Warriors made just one shot in the fourth quarter and were outscored 15-2 in the period en route to the 16-point win for the Mountaineers.
Corban began the game hot, with freshman guard Lindsay Asplund (Battle Ground, Wash.) nailing a three-pointer and then junior forward Payton Wilcox (Salem, Ore.) following that up with a jumper in the point, nabbing the early advantage. Later in the first quarter, senior forward Megan Benedict (Lebanon, Ore.) came into the game for Corban, playing in her first minutes of the year, and on the first time she touched the ball, she drained a deep three-pointer, putting Corban in front by four points. The Warriors then closed out the stanza strong, taking an eight-point lead into the second period.
The Mountaineers were more efficient offensively in the second quarter, but Corban maintained its eight-point lead heading into the halftime break at 38-30.
"It was a very good first half, but as we discussed in the postgame, we have to play the whole 40 minutes," said Corban head coach Dave Bale. "We did not match the intensity of EOU. I know this group will pick it up."
In the second half, EOU came out firing, nailing shot after shot, and heading into the fourth quarter had taken a three-point lead at 48-45. The Mountaineers then locked down defensively, holding Corban to just one made basket in the final quarter while scoring 15 total points themselves, resulting in the double-digit triumph.
For the game, Corban shot just 30.2% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc, while Eastern Oregon shot 39.4% overall for the game and made seven three-pointers.
Jordan Klebaum led the way with 19 points, draining five three-pointers in the process, while Madeline Laan also played well, scoring 14 points. In addition, Payton Parrish scored 16 points for the Mountaineers.
For the Warriors, senior guard Julia Young (Snohomish, Wash.) scored a team-best 10 points for Corban.
Eastern Oregon travels to Northwest Christian tomorrow evening to close out its road trip at 5:30 p.m., while Corban (4-7, 0-3 CCC) hosts the College of Idaho tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m.
