SALEM, Ore. – For the second straight day, the Corban University men's basketball team delivered a great effort on their home floor against the Owls of Oregon Institute of Technology. On Saturday, the Warriors fell just short of picking up their second upset win in as many days. Oregon Tech made the necessary plays down the stretch and defeated the Navy and Gold by the final score of 67-65.

"Today was a tough loss, but give OIT credit, they were able to make a few more plays than us down the stretch," said head coach Taylor Kelly. "Our guys battled through adversity and are growing into a basketball family. We will take the things we learned today and use them further down the line as our season progresses. We have many strides to take and I am excited for us to take them."

The Warriors started off the contest down 6-2 early on, before erupting for a 16-4 run over a seven minute span, putting Corban up by eight with just under haf of the first half left to play. The lead would be cut to three by OIT, but was soon widened once again, as the Navy and Gold created their largest lead of the period. The Warriors would head into the half with a nine point advantage over the Owls.

In the second half, the Oregon Tech offense begun their surge. With 6:57 remaining in the half, the Owls started an 8-0 run that pushed them even with Corban. The final four minutes of action were a dogfight, as the teams traded buckets until the very end. Oregon Tech's Garret Albrecht had the last laugh by finishing a layup with 2.3 seconds remaining over a strong defensive effort from the Warrior fortification.

For the Navy and Gold, Kendall Moore (15 points), Josiah Roth (14 points), and Taylor Anderson (11 points) were the three scorers who racked up double-figure production. 

Moore had a 7-of-15 showing from the field, knocking down a long-distance jumper. He added rebounds and assists, with three of each. He played 25 minutes in the contest.

Roth was a standout performer for the Warriors, as he was an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor with five boards. In his trips to the charity stripe, he sunk all four of his free throws.

On a 4-of-9 performance shooting with six assists and five rebounds, Anderson stuffed the stat sheet. He also came off the bench to lead the team in minutes played with 32.

Oregon Tech sported four names in double digits in the scoring column, as Matt Van Tassell (18 points), Kaison Faust (15 points), Kellen Gerig (13 points), and Albrecht (13 points) put up gaudy numbers for the Owls. 

Van Tassell shot 7-of-13 with a three-pointer, and added three made free throws and contributed in rebounding with three backboards.

Faust was a superb 7-of-9 from the field, with nine rebounds to go along with his 14 points, nearly accounting for a double-double.

Gerig took only seven shots, but made four of them, as he also added six boards. He had a team-high five made free throws for OIT.

The hero for the Owls, Albrecht, was 6-of-10 shooting in the bout. He pulled in five rebounds and was responsible for an assist as a part of his stat line.

Statistically, as a team, the Warriors shot a modest 41.0% from the floor and 35.7% from three-point land. The Navy and Gold were able to hold the OIT offense to 45.0%, and allowed only one out of Oregon Tech's 16 tries from deep to go through the cylinder.

The Warriors (5-2, 3-1 CCC) will next see the court when they host the Warner Pacific Knights at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in a non-conference affair.

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