ASHLAND, Ore. – Knocking down two game-winning free throws, Southern Oregon University Raiders went on to defeat Corban University men's hoops by a score of 91-89 on Sunday afternoon. The Raiders won both regular-season matchups against the Warriors.

"I am very pleased with our guys' performance on the second day of a tough back-to-back," said head coach Austin Johnson. "We battled for 40 minutes and unfortunately didn't come out on the winning end. We'll rest up and prepare for Northwest Christian and be ready to compete from there."

The Warriors looked to make a statement from the opening tip. Hot shooting helped the Warriors jump out to an early lead, as Corban's largest lead grew to 11 with nine minutes remaining. Corban shot 52.9% from the floor and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc to go up 40-35 leading into halftime.

Southern Oregon came out firing in the second half, shooting 63.6% to help diminish Corban's first-half advantage and grow a four-point lead of their own. As the game progressed, the match-up became a nail-biter, with different lead changes throughout the rest of the half. With 13 seconds remaining, Tristen Holmes hit a jumper to put the Raiders up 89-87. Corban's junior AJ Monterossi rushed back to other end, was fouled, and later hit two clutch free throws to tie the game at 89. However, with five seconds left, Holmes was fouled on the inbounds throw-in, allowing him to go to the line to win the game. Holmes hit both free throws, putting the Raiders up by two, 91-89. In a last ditch effort, junior Chris Martin's lay-up ended up short on the other end as the buzzer sounded.

Four players scored in double-digits for the Raiders, as Holmes and Jordan Hunt finished with 20 points, while Ben DeSaulnier and Kenny Meyer scored 19 and 13 points respectively. Additionally, Holmes added a team-high eight assists while Hunt grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

For Corban, Monterossi finished the night with 20 points and nine assists. Martin added in 17 points of his own, while junior Jake Love contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Joel Johnson rounded out the double-digit scoring with 13 points for the game.

Corban (15-15, 8-12 CCC) heads into the quarterfinal round of the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) tournament facing a tough Northwest Christian team on the road in Eugene, Ore. Corban will play as the eighth seed, while Northwest Christian University will play as the first seed. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 22.

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