SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University men's basketball team officially christened Tim Hills Court by nearly hitting the century mark Tuesday night in a non-conference win over Multnomah University, 97-63, inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

"Tonight was a night where our bench really showed up and competed with great focus and intensity," said first-year head coach Taylor Kelly. "We want to continue to establish ourselves as a team that can count on every man on the roster. I believe we took a big step in that direction by the way our group as a whole competed. Multnomah is a tricky team and can really put points on the board in a hurry. I'm proud of how we held them well under their season average."

With tonight's result, Corban improves to 4-1 overall with Multnomah falling to 0-17.

The Navy and Gold were led offensively by Denis Kirichenko, who scored a career-high tying 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field. The senior forward scored his team-leading point total in a mere 18 minutes of action.

Kirichenko was aided offensively by a quartet of Warriors – Kendall Moore, Mauricio Smith, Reece Van Lierop, and Isiah Quintero – that scored in double figures with 14, 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Smith led Corban's rebounding efforts with a team-high 11 rebounds to register his first double-double in a Warrior uniform, while Josiah Roth came off the Warriors' bench to pull down 10 rebounds of his own. Taylor Anderson would guide Corban's offense with seven points and a game-high seven assists, while Jordan Newt dished out six assists and registered a game-high three steals.

The game started with Multnomah jumping out to a slim three-point lead (8-5) on a Zach Richardson three-pointer with just over 18 minutes remaining in the first half. Over the next five minutes, Corban used a 13-0 run to take an 18-8 lead on a Kirichenko lay-in with 13:03 on the clock. The Navy and Gold would continue to increase its lead growing to as much as 13 points (25-12) on a Jake Estep three-pointer with 9:19 on the clock. Multnomah would score six unanswered points over the next 37 seconds to cut Corban's advantage to single digits (25-18) on another Richardson three-pointer with 8:43 left in the first half. The host Warriors would quickly rebuild its double-digit lead behind a 9-0 run that concluded on a Smith jump shot with 5:40 left. Two minutes later, Corban would double the visiting Lions' point total when Smith converted an old-fashion three-point play making the score 42-21 in favor of the home team. Over the final three-plus minutes, the Navy and Gold continued to apply the pressure at both ends of the floor taking a 51-27 lead into halftime.

The second half started with Multnomah outscoring Corban 13-6 over the opening four-plus minutes, as the Lions trimmed their deficit to 18 points (58-40) on a Grant Dunn three-pointer that caused the home team to call a timeout. Out of the break, the host Warriors went on a 13-0 run to put the game out of reach as Corban built a 71-40 lead on a Moses Miller jump shot with 12:35 left in the game. Another Estep three-pointer would give Corban its largest lead of the game, 36 points (80-44), with 9:44 on the clock. Seven minutes later, Anderson would equal the 36-point difference via a jump shot at the 2:18 mark giving Corban a 97-61 lead. A pair of free throws by Richardson would cap the game's scoring, as the Navy and Gold extended its winning streak to four games with the 97-63 victory.

Multnomah was led offensively by Richardson with a game-high 28 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field that included a 6-for-12 performance from beyond the arc. Richardson was aided offensively by a pair of Lions – Wallace Ungwiluk and Dunn – with nine points each, while Maxime Dehon pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds that included eight on the offensive glass. Ungwiluk and Forrest Smith led Multnomah's offense with four assists apiece, while Smith also registered a team-high two steals.

As a team, Corban combined to shoot 38-for-73 (52.1%) from the field that included a 54.3% clip in the second half. The Warriors were also a combined 12-for-28 (42.9%) from beyond the three-point line and 9-of-13 (69.2%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Multnomah was a combined 23-of-66 (34.8%) from the field, 12-of-41 (29.3%) from long distance, and 5-of-7 (71.4%) at the charity stripe.

Corban will return to action when the Warriors host the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Institute of Technology in a Cascade Collegiate Conference weekend series beginning on Friday, March 26, with a scheduled tipoff of 2:00 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center. 

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