SALEM, Ore. – With a dominant performance down low by Joel Johnson, the Corban University men's basketball team closed out the 2017 calendar year with a pivotal win over The Evergreen State College, 74-58. The victory gives Corban the weekend sweep, while Evergreen comes away with a road split on its Willamette valley road swing.

Click the 'Play Button' on the photo above for video highlights from the win.

"Tonight was another great night for our guys in regards to defense and communication," said Corban head coach Austin Johnson. "For the most part, we limited their looks from three – a large part of that is due to the effort of Mike Seng. He was great off the bench."

From start to finish, Corban played lock-down defense, holding the Geoducks to just a 32.0% shooting mark in the first half and only a 39.3% shooting effort for the game. As the first half went along, the Warriors slowly built a lead that by halftime reached 15 points.

To begin the second half, Corban quickly extended its lead to 20 points and never looked back from there, leading by as many as 25 points while never letting the Geoducks get closer than 14 points. Dustin Meade did hit three-straight long-range efforts in the second stanza to give Evergreen some life, but Corban's Johnson continued to punish the Geoducks inside with big buckets to seal the win.

Johnson finished the night with 22 points and nine boards, going 8-for-13 from the floor in the triumph. Corban's only other player to reach double-digits was Caleb Dozier, as he also proved to be very effective on the block, shooting 6-for-8 on the night with 12 points and six rebounds.

Those were the only two Warriors to reach double-figures, but all but one player who entered the game for the Navy and Gold scored at least two points in the all-around team win.

"Each of our seniors did a great job of being unselfish and making the right plays," said Coach Johnson. "I am hoping we can build on this as we go on the road next weekend."

For the Geoducks, it was Pat Ling who led the way and was the only Evergreen player to reach double-digits in scoring with 16 points and six boards, while Meade and Shawn Spencer both tallied nine points in the defeat for the Geoducks.

As a team, Corban shot 50.8% from the field and 27.8% from downtown. In addition, Corban's second-chance points proved critical, totaling 13 of them to just two for Evergreen. Moreover, the Warriors won the battle in the paint, scoring 40 points in the paint to just 26 for the Geoducks (2-13, 1-5 CCC).

Corban (10-5, 4-3 CCC) returns to the hardwood next Friday when it travels north to take on Warner Pacific College on Friday night in Portland, while Evergreen returns home next Friday to host Eastern Oregon University. Tipoffs for both teams are slated for 7:30 p.m.