SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University men's basketball team put together one of its most complete performances of the 2021-22 campaign in an 89-48 win over Portland Bible College on Saturday afternoon, using a total team effort in the big win.

"Tonight, we did a great job of defending and committing to our identity as a team," said Corban men's basketball head coach Taylor Kelly "I'm really proud of our guys for that. I am excited to get to conference play and prove ourselves against the tough CCC.

Darius Henderson started the scoring for the Warriors after winning the jump ball. The Navy and Gold continued to put pressure on PBC and an uncontested dunk by Talin Lewis made the first half score 20-8 with 11:30 left in the half. The Warrior defense caused Portland to commit a shot clock violation and forced a timeout early in the first half.

Corban had a 37-21 lead going into the halftime intermission, but they knew that PBC would come out and make a run at the Warriors. They did just that, Rudy Masaad came out strong in the second half firing away several three-point attempts. Corban's aggressive defense proved too much for Portland as they allowed the Warriors 28 points off turnovers.

Whether it was Taylor Anderson with a key jumper or layup, or at times Lewis coming off the bench to hit a key three-pointer, the Warriors maintained a lead for the entirety of the game. Another key player for the Warriors with some very timely buckets was Denis Kirichenko, as he scored 15 points, but recorded seven rebounds, and many of the boards came at pivotal moments in the game.

Corban shot 52.9% on the evening while holding PBC to a 37.5% shooting mark. Corban made an impressive eleven long-range efforts, while PBC made just five of their 19 attempts. Corban went 4-7 from the charity stripe with Portland Bible going 5-9 from the line.

Lewis led the way offensively with 23 points for the Warriors, shooting 8-for-11 on the night and 2-4 from deep to go with his five boards. Complementing his effort was Henderson with 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists, while  Kirichenko had a big game down low, going 6-for-11 from the field with 15 points and seven rebounds. In addition, Roth finished the night with 11 points for the Navy and Gold.

Isaac Semerikov made his home debut and contributed in almost every offensive category for the Navy and Gold and recorded his first steal on Tim Hills court.

For Portland Bible it was Tommy Pham leading the way with 28 points, while both Rudy Masaad and Nalu Kanalulu contributed offensively.  

Corban (5-4, 0-1 CCC) returns to action next week when it travels north to take on Warner Pacific University and Multnomah. Tipoff on Friday against Warner is set for 7:30 p.m.