CLICK HERE to watch Newt's buzzer-beater
CLICK HERE to hear from tonight's hero – Jordan Newt

SALEM, Ore. – Senior Jordan Newt hit a buzzer-beating bank shot from beyond the arc, as the Corban University men's basketball team came from behind to defeat I-5 rival Bushnell University, 86-85, in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) action Friday night on Tim Hills Court inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

"Tonight was about overcoming and continuing to believe even when it was hard too," said first-year head coach Taylor Kelly. "Our guys never stopped believing that we were going to find a way to turn the corner and it happened in dramatic fashion."

On a night where Warrior Hall of Famer and current assistant coach Tim Hills was celebrating a birthday, the Navy and Gold delivered the best present possible when Newt unleashed a desperation three-pointer from just inside the half court line and banked the shot off the backboard as time expired to snap a four-game losing streak against the Beacons.

"Jordan (Newt) has been an incredible senior leader for us all year and he made an incredible shot for us when our backs were against the wall," added Kelly. "So happy for him and our team. Excited to clean some things up and play better tomorrow."

With tonight's result, Corban improves to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in CCC games. Meanwhile, Bushnell falls to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in league contests.

The Navy and Gold were led offensively by Newt with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field that included a 5-for-7 mark from beyond the three-point line. Along with his team-high performance in points, Newt also added two rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 25 minutes of action.

Newt was aided offensively by a trio of Warriors – Mateo Escheik, Kendall Moore, and Mauricio Smith – that scored in double figures with 14, 13, and 11 points, respectively. Dirk Helaire II led Corban's rebounding efforts with a team-high eight rebounds that included four on the offensive glass, while Moore dished out a team-leading five assists and registered a game-high five steals.

Corban started the game by jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead in the opening 89 seconds. Three minutes later, the Navy and Gold doubled Bushnell's scoring on a Newt three-pointer to give the home team a 12-6 lead with 15:48 on the clock. The visiting Beacons did not go quietly into the night though, as Bushnell used a 15-5 run over the next three minutes to take a 21-17 lead on a Stevie Schlabach lay-in at the 12:21 mark. Neither team took more than a three-point lead over the next five minutes, as Moore tied the game at 32-32 on a jumper with 7:21 on the clock. Immediately following Moore's game-tying shot, Bushnell used an 8-2 run taking a 40-34 lead on an old-fashion three-point play by Ernest Ugoagu with 5:54 left in the first half. The visiting Beacons pushed their lead to as much as nine points (45-36) on back-to-back free throws by Schlabach with just over four minutes on the clock. Corban pulled within four points (47-43) on a lay-in by Anderson before Bushnell scored the final three points of the first half taking a 50-43 lead into halftime.

The second half began with Corban using a 10-4 run to get within a single point (54-53) on a jumper by Newt at the 17:14 mark. A 9-1 run by Bushnell over the next two-plus minutes handed the visiting Beacons a 63-54 lead after a lay-in by Schlabach with just under 15 minutes on the clock.Bushnell slowly increased its lead over the next three minutes grabbing a game-high 13-point lead (72-59) earning the advantage on five quick points by Logan Sand and a pair of free throws by Schlabach with 12:07 left. Back-to-back three-point buckets by Newt and Escheik trimmed BU's lead to single digits and began a 22-13 Corban run over a span of almost 11 minutes to pull within a single point (82-81) on a lay-in by Smith with 95 seconds remaining. Schlabach knocked down his final three-pointer of the night to put Bushnell back ahead by four points (85-81) with 70 seconds left. Following a 30-second timeout by Kelly, Corban pulled within two points (85-83) on a driving lay-in by Moore with 42.7 seconds left. With 16.2 seconds left, Helaire provided the biggest defensive play of the night when he blocked a Bushnell player's shot keeping the Navy and Gold's hopes alive. With 3.2 seconds left, Bushnell missed the front end of a one-and-one attempt setting up the final play of the night. After back-to-back timeouts by both teams, Josiah Roth passed the ball up to Isiah Quintero, who turned around and found Newt at the half court line. Following one dribble right to elude a Beacon defender, Newt unleashed a running, one-footed prayer that was answered resulting in the game-ending shot. The final margin of one-point (86-85) was the Warriors' first lead since the 8:22 mark of the first half.

Corban's comeback was fueled by its defense, as the Navy and Gold stepped up the pressure in the second half forcing Bushnell into 10 turnovers. On the other hand, the Warriors only committed one turnover over the game's final 20 minutes of action.

Bushnell was led offensively by Schlabach with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, while Kaden Sand and Ugoagu added 20 and 19 points, respectively. Schlabach also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Beacons, while Ugoagu handed out a game-high six assists for BU.

As a team, Corban combined to shoot 30-for-77 (39.0%) from the field. The Warriors were also a combined 13-for-25 (52.0%) from beyond the three-point line and 13-of-19 (68.4%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Bushnell was a combined 29-of-56 (51.8%) from the field that included a 54.2% (13-of-24) clip in the second half. The Beacons were also a combined 5-of-12 (41.7%) from long distance and 22-of-27 (81.5%) at the charity stripe.

Both teams will return to action tomorrow – Saturday, April 3 – when Corban and Bushnell close out their CCC weekend series starting at 7:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

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