LEWISTON, Idaho – The Corban University men's basketball team continued its strong start to the 2022 portion of its winter season on Friday evening, upsetting No. 20-ranked Lewis-Clark State College on its home floor, 88-78. The red-hot Navy and Gold squad now has a 5-1 record in its last six games, while also moving above .500 in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play (6-5 CCC) with Friday's statement win.

Corban's trademark relentless defense was on full display in the victory, matching the squad's season high with 21 forced turnovers.

"This is a big-time road win for our program," said head coach Taylor Kelly. "LC State does such a great job and we have so much respect for them. Our guys came to compete and we got a great effort out of them. Warrior Nation should be proud of these men!"

The two squads matched each other stride-for-stride in the early going, splitting the game's first 24 points through the first eight minutes of play. That back-and-forth theme continued until roughly three minutes remained in the period, when Corban turned a one-point lead (27-26) into a 12-point advantage (40-28) thanks for a 13-2 run to close the first half.

That would prove to be the difference, as the hometown squad was unable to make any significant strides towards erasing that deficit in the second half.

Corban's 21 forced turnovers led directly to 23 points, as the visitors outscored the home team in points off turnovers by an impressive 23-11 margin. Four Warriors—Jordan Newt (5), Mateo Escheik (4), Taylor Anderson (4), and Kendall Moore (3)—finished with at least three takeaways.

"Our three-headed monster of Taylor, Jordan, and Kendall really set the tone for us defensively," Kelly said of his guards. "Their pace and aggressiveness gave our team such good rhythm and flow."

Offensively, the Warriors from Salem shot at a 42.3% mark from the floor and 42.9% clip from downtown, led by a career-high 25-point effort (9-of-20 FG) from Escheik, who also tallied seven boards.

"Mateo scored and rebounded at a great clip, but his defensive presence was big for us all night too," Kelly said regarding Escheik's career night.

Anderson added 13 points of his own, while Moore (15 points) and Psalm Maduakor (eight points, team-high 11 rebounds) turned in stellar efforts off the bench.

Speaking on Maduakor's invaluable contribution in reserve, Kelly added: "Psalm seemed to come up with every big rebound for our program."

Lewis-Clark was paced by a 22-point effort from Khalil Stevenson, while Colton Spencer came off the bench to chip in 21 points.

Corban (11-8, 6-5 CCC) will look to continue its winning ways tomorrow evening, facing off with Walla Walla University in another CCC contest. Tip-off in College Place, Wash. is slated for 8:30 p.m.