PORTLAND, Ore. – It came down to the final shot, and the Corban University men's basketball team came out on top on Friday night, defeating Multnomah University on the road, 82-79. The win gives Corban the regular-season sweep of the Lions.

"This was a gutsy win," said Corban head coach Mitch Freeman. "Credit Multnomah for forcing us to play more of how they wanted to play on both ends of the floor. Our guys battled until the very last second and came up with some big defensive rebounds in the final two minutes of the game. Winning on the road in this conference is tough!"

Friday night's game was a very different contest than what was played less than a month ago in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center – a game which Corban won by 30 points. This contest, on the road for the Warriors, turned into a barn-burner, ultimately coming down the stretch with the game hanging in the balance.

With the contest tied at 77-77 with 2:50 left in regulation, AJ Hodges hit a key shot for the Warriors to put Corban up by two, but immediately the Lions responded to tie it.

On the next possession, Corban missed a pair of shots, but two offensive rebounds led to Tyler Wadleigh making a tough shot while being fouled, and after converting the three-point play the hard way, he had the Warriors up by three points with just over a minute left.

Corban then had a chance to seal the contest with about 20 seconds left, but the three-point shot fell short, leaving the Lions with one last chance to try to tie it and send it to overtime, but Justin Martin's shot for Multnomah went off the back of the iron, ending the game with the three-point Warrior win.

Off the bench, Denis Kirichenko had one of the best games of his Warrior career, scoring a team-best 19 points on an 8-for-15 shooting mark while also hauling in seven boards. AJ Hodges proved critical as well, scoring 18 points for the Warriors, while both Jaxon Hughes and Beau Roggenbach totaled 11 points apiece.

Corban shot 41.6% from the field and 39.1% from deep while holding Multnomah to just a 39.7% shooting mark overall and only a 27.5% effort from beyond the arc.

Corban (17-7, 8-6 CCC) returns to the hardwood on Saturday night when it takes on Warner Pacific University. Tipoff in Portland is slated for 7:30 p.m.