SALEM, Ore. – It has been five years since the Corban University men's basketball team has won a Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament game, but the Warriors will be looking to break that streak on Wednesday evening down south in Ashland. Just four days after defeating Southern Oregon University in Salem, the Warriors will attempt to make it two wins in a row against the Raiders, but this time in a much different environment.
Winning on the road is something the Warriors are more than capable of doing, as Corban has done it six times already this year. In order to keep its season alive in 2016, the seventh-seeded Warriors will need to upset the second-seeded SOU Raiders at Ashland High School on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the CCC Tournament Quarterfinals presented by U.S. Bank.
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Corban (16-12, 10-10 CCC) lost at the now No. 14-ranked Raiders (23-7, 16-4 CCC) earlier this year on the road in heartbreaking fashion, 86-84, in overtime. Just this past Saturday, however, the Warriors downed SOU on Senior Night in Salem, 90-74.
SOU went 11-0 in CCC games during the 2015-16 season that were five-point games in the final five minutes. The Raiders were also 12-0 at home during the 2015-16 campaign, so Corban will be looking to break that streak as well.
Corban leads the all-time series against SOU, 42-40, while the Raiders have won seven of the past eight games in the series. The Warriors finished atop the CCC in 2015-16 in the field-goal percentage category at 50.9%, making it the first time since 2012 that SOU had not held the top spot in the category at the end of the year.
As a team, SOU ranks No. 1 in the NAIA in assists per game at 19.6 apg, while also second overall in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8). Ben DeSaulnier led the way for SOU in CCC action offensively, scoring 17.0 ppg, while just this past Saturday, he scored 29 against the Warriors. Right behind him was Joel Spear at 14.7 ppg, while Clay Sierra ranked fourth in CCC action in field-goal percentage (62.1%).
For Corban, it is sophomore guard AJ Monterossi (Beaverton, Ore.) leading the way, ranking fifth in the CCC in scoring at 18.8 ppg in conference action, while senior forward Cyrus Ward (Gig Harbor, Wash.) is not far behind in seventh in the conference at 18.2 ppg. Also providing Corban with some offensive pop from the outside is junior guard Caleb Herzberg (Beaverton, Ore.), as he is averaging 11.9 ppg in CCC action. In addition, coming on strong in the last month has been freshman forward Joel Johnson (Tigard, Ore.), as he finished the CCC season averaging 8.6 ppg and 6.6 rpg, providing a big presence down low for the Navy and Gold.
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