SALEM, Ore. – Toby Roth drove the length of the floor and made a game-winning layup with less than a second left in regulation on Saturday evening, lifting the Corban University men's basketball team to a 74-73 upset win over No. 17-ranked College of Idaho. For the Warriors, the win marks the team's second-straight win over the Yotes in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center and gives Corban a regular-season split with C of I.
Click the 'Play Button' on the photo above to watch the game-winning shot and all of the highlights from the win.
"Tonight was a battle for all 40 minutes," said Corban head coach Austin Johnson. "College of Idaho is a great defensive team and had us out of rhythm in the first half. Our guys did a great job of maintaining composure heading into halftime and regrouping. Our guys trusted each other and were much stronger with the ball the last 20 minutes."
In the first half, Joel Johnson got the game going for the Warriors with a pair of thunderous dunks, but it was the Yotes that closed the first 20 minutes strong, taking an 11-point lead into the break at 42-31. Both Aziz Leeks and Talon Pinckney had it working in the first half, scoring nine points apiece.
In the second stanza, Corban came out firing, and it was Jake Love who hit Corban's first three-pointer of the contest just a few minutes into the second half, bringing Corban to within nine points. That long-range shot extended Corban's NAIA-leading streak with a three-pointer made to 986 consecutive games.
The two sides then traded buckets, but then AJ Monterossi went on a short scoring spurt for the Warriors to pull Corban to within one point with nine minutes remaining.
That is the point in the game when the senior guard from Silverton began his clutch play over the final nine minutes. After checking into the contest, he received a pass from Monterossi and nailed a long-range effort to put the Warriors up, 58-56. The Yotes responded immediately with a three-ball from Emanuel Morgan, but on the next trip down the floor, Roth drained another shot from downtown to give Corban the lead.
Morgan came up big for the Yotes with another three-pointer of his own, but then the two sides traded big buckets down the stretch, and with 18 seconds remaining and Corban leading by one point, the Warriors missed a free throw and the Yotes had a chance to take the lead.
Joey Nebeker received a pass from Aitor Zubizarreta and Nebeker finished a tough layup at the rack with seven seconds remaining to put the Yotes up one.
After C of I called a timeout, the Warriors were forced to go the length of the floor, leaving the heroics up to Roth.
After Roth inbounded the ball to Jeremiah Harris, Harris immediately gave it back to Roth on a give-and-go and Roth dribbled the length of the court, crossed up Nebeker on his way to the hoop and scored with the left hand with 0.7 seconds left on the clock to put Corban up by one point. The ball was inbounded and the Yotes sent a long three-point heave to the hoop, but the shot fell short, resulting in pandemonium in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
"Tonight is a great testament to who Toby Roth is as a player and as a person," said Johnson. "He is selfless and truly cares more about winning than anything else. His performance tonight was what I hope our program will be about every day moving forward. Couldn't be happier for him."
Roth finished with 10 points for the Warriors, while Monterossi totaled a team-best 17 points and nine boards. Also hitting double-digits was Joel Johnson on a 6-for-8 effort with 12 points, while Jake Love scored 10 points.
For the Yotes (14-7, 7-4 CCC), Nebeker finished the contest with a team-best 16 points, while Roosevelt Adams racked up a team-best 11 rebounds to go with eight points.
Corban (13-8, 6-5 CCC) returns to the hardwood tomorrow afternoon when it hosts No. 5 Eastern Oregon University at 3 p.m.
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