SALEM, Ore. – Taylor Anderson hit a baseline jumper with 0.6 seconds left to help lift the Corban University men's basketball team to a 77-76 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) victory over the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Institute of Technology Saturday afternoon inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

"OIT is a really tough team who we have a ton of respect for," said first-year head coach Taylor Kelly. "Today was about our guys sticking together and believing in the work and preparation we have put into this point. We battled through adversity and Taylor Anderson was incredible all game long tonight. This is a big win for our program and we are excited for the opportunity to compete again tomorrow."

Trailing by one point (76-75) with under 21 seconds left, Oregon Tech called a timeout to set up its defense followed immediately by Kelly calling one of his own to set up the Warriors' offense. Out of the back-to-back breaks, Corban got the ball and following a missed lay-in, a pair of Oregon Tech players battled for the rebounds and were called for traveling giving the ball back to the Navy and Gold with 3.6 seconds left. Kelly would call his final timeout to set up the out-of-bounds play. Anderson triggered the in-bounds play finding Josiah Roth posting on the right block. Immediately coming off the baseline, Anderson flared out, received a shovel pass from Roth, and executed a perfect looking jump shot that found nothing but the bottom of the net with 0.6 seconds remaining. Oregon Tech was unable to get off a last-second shot sending the Warrior bench into celebration following their come-from-behind victory.

Anderson, who scored a game-high 23 points off the bench for the Navy and Gold, also hit a buzzer-beating, three-quarter court shot to end the first half. With less than three seconds remaining, Anderson got the ball in front of the Warriors' bench and unleashed a one-handed heave toward the basket that banked off the glass and went straight through the bottom of the net for a SportsCenter Top 10-type highlight to close out the first half.

Along with Anderson's heroics and effort off the bench, two other Warriors – Jordan Newt and Mateo Escheik – also scored in double figures with 16 and 13 points, respectively. On the board, Kendall Moore and Denis Kirichenko pulled down a team-leading five rebounds each for the Navy and Gold. Anderson and Escheik would lead Corban's offense with three assists each, while Isiah Quintero registered a pair of blocks for the Navy and Gold.

The game began with both team battling back and forth until Oregon Tech held a slim one-point lead (6-5) on a Scotty Burge three-pointer with 18:27 remaining. Over the next 2:28, the Navy and Gold scored seven unanswered points to take a 12-6 lead on a three-pointer by Newt with just under 16 minutes left in the first half. Oregon Tech would battle back to get within a single point (20-19) with 10:43 left before Corban quickly pushed its lead up to nine points (28-19) via an 8-0 run that was capped by an Anderson lay-in with 7:39 left. The Navy and Gold would secure a 12-point advantage three times over the final seven-plus minutes before using Anderson's buzzer-beating shot to grab its largest lead of the game (45-32) heading into the break.

The second half began with Oregon Tech using a 12-4 run over the opening five minutes to pull within five points (49-44). Corban would push its lead back to eight points (56-48) on a Newt jumper with 12:52 on the clock before OIT began its comeback. Over the next five-plus minutes, the visiting Owls put together a 13-5 run to tie the score at 61-61 on a Kaison Faust lay-in with 7:17 on the clock. Neither team would hold more than a three-point lead down the stretch with Oregon Tech earning a 71-68 advantage at the three-minute mark and Corban pulling in front by three with 45 seconds remaining. OIT's Kellen Gerig would put the visiting team in front by a single point (76-75) to set up the frantic ending to the game.

Oregon Tech was led offensively by Harrison Steiger with 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while Faust and Gerig provided 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the visiting Owls. Gerig also led OIT's offense with a game-high four assists.

Both teams will battle it out once again tomorrow – Saturday, March 27 – beginning at a scheduled 2:00 p.m. tip off inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.

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