SALEM, Ore. – Senior Jordan Newt eclipsed his previous single-game scoring best leading all players with a career-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field that included a 5-for-9 performance from beyond the three-point line, as Corban University's men's basketball team split its Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) weekend with Southern Oregon University picking up a 74-67 victory Sunday afternoon inside the Lithia Motors Pavilion.

With today's result, Corban improves to 11-3 overall and 6-2 in CCC contests. With two conference games remaining in the regular season, the Navy and Gold are tied atop the current CCC standings with Oregon Tech. Meanwhile, Southern Oregon falls to 3-3 overall and 3-3 in conference games.

Along with Newt, sophomore Kendall Moore also scored in double figures with 10 points capping a weekend in which the first-year Warrior scored a combined 37 points against SOU. Senior Mauricio Smith added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Josiah Roth also grabbed seven boards to tie Smith for the team lead. Newt, Moore, and sophomore Taylor Anderson guided the Warriors' offense with three assists each to go along with a game-high four steals recorded by Newt.

The game began with three ties over the opening three minutes before Southern Oregon broke a 6-6 tie using a 12-7 run over a span of six minutes to take an 18-13 lead with 11:47 on the clock. The Navy and Gold battled back to tie the game once again at 19-19 on a jumper in the paint by senior Denis Kirichenko before the host Raiders answered with an 8-0 run to pull ahead 27-19 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. Corban slowly cut into SOU's lead over the final five minutes using a 12-5 run to close the opening half, as the Warriors went into halftime trailing by two points (33-31).

The second half started with Corban taking the lead for good within the opening 74 seconds. Sophomore Mateo Escheik scored the first two points a mere 13 seconds into the second half, while Smith put the Navy and Gold in front (35-33) giving Corban its first lead since the 13:35 mark of the opening half. The visiting Warriors scored the first eight points of the second half ending on a free throw by Moore with 17:08 left to put the Navy and Gold in front by six points (39-33). Southern Oregon got within two points (41-39) before Corban used a 15-8 run to go ahead by nine points (56-47) on a jumper by Anderson with 10:45 on the clock. The Navy and Gold never relinquished its lead pulling ahead by a game-high 10 points (72-62) with 2:29 left. Corban settled for a 74-67 victory utilizing solid defense and timely free throw shooting down the stretch.

Southern Oregon was led offensively by Tez Allen with 17 points, while three other Raiders – Brad Allen, Josh Meyer, and Elijah Jackson – also scored in double figures with 12, 11, and 11 points, respectively. Allen led SOU's rebounding efforts with a game-high 12 rebounds to register a double-double, while Mason Whittaker handed out a game-high four assists for SOU.

As a team, Corban combined to shoot 28-for-69 (40.6%) from the field that included a 51.7% (15-for-29) clip over the final 20 minutes. The Warriors were also a combined 7-for-21 (33.3%) from beyond the three-point line and 11-of-15 (73.3%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Southern Oregon was a combined 28-of-61 (45.9%) from the field, 5-of-20 (25.0%) from long distance, and 6-of-11 (54.5%) at the charity stripe.

Corban will close out the CCC regular season with a weekend double header against Eastern Oregon University starting on Friday, April 23, beginning at 6:00 p.m. inside Quinn Coliseum in La Grande.

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