EUGENE, Ore. – Multiple offensive outbursts and some incredible lockdown defense allowed the Corban University Men's Basketball team (3-0, 1-0) to cruise to an 84-66 victory over Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) rival Bushnell University (2-3, 0-1) on the Beacons' home court to open CCC play.
"Tonight was a big start to conference play for our team," Corban Head Coach Taylor Kelly said after his team's undefeated start to conference play.
"Our guys had a great couple of days of preparation and after an 11-day layoff, they were ready to compete. We started the game really focused and engaged on both sides of the court. As we settleds in we saw some bad habits creep in, but we came back out in the second half with a renewed focus and we started to string together some stops and baskets," Kelly analyzed.
Kelly wrapped up his thoughts on the outcome with, "I'm proud of our guys, conference road wins are hard to come by in the CCC, so we will cherish this and continue to get better."
The Warriors started off incredibly hot from the line, hitting three-straight field goals and a pair from the stripe to take an 8-0 lead with only two minutes of action. Their intensity on the offensive end transferred to the defensive side of the ball, as they forced missed shot and turnovers left and right to take a 10-0 lead under three minutes into the game, forcing the Beacons into an extremely early timeout.
Bushnell was able to get their first points of the game out of the timeout, scoring on a three-point attempt from the top of the key. The Beacons' scorer, guard Stevie Schlabach, hit a layup and assisted on the next to keep Bushnell within striking distance, but the Warriors continued to pile on the offensive pressure.
Corban was able to take their largest lead of the half just before the first media timeout, as senior guard Masie Mohammadi hit a three-pointer in front of the Beacons' bench in transition to take a 19-7 lead. Two baskets later, Mohammadi hit another for Corban to go up 23-9 with 10 minutes to play in the first half.
Neither the Beacons nor the Warriors were able to dip this contest below a double-digit lead for a majority of the first half, but Bushnell was able to pull under a 10 on a Schlabach transition layup through contact and a corner three-pointer from guard Trevon Richmond.
All the momentum was now in the hands of the Beacons, as they utilized offensive fouls on Corban's end and hand check fouls to find themselves at the free throw line multiple times down the stretch of the first half. Their final possession of the period resulted in free throws again, which Schlabach connected on to pull the Beacons within five to end the half, Warriors leading 37-32.
The Warriors quickly retrieved their double-digit lead to open the half, but the Beacons refused to go away, keeping within a reasonable strikable distance despite being outscored in the first seven minutes of the second half.
Little by little, Corban was able to grow their lead over the next ten minutes, leading by as many as 22 points with four minutes remaining in the game. Over half of the Warriors' field goals were finding pay dirt, while holding the Beacons to 40% and forcing 19 turnovers that led to a myriad of transition points.
With two minutes remaining and a 20-point advantage, Coach Kelly cleared his bench as the Navy and Gold that traveled from Salem applauded their starters' efforts in a dominate victory on the road over an improved Beacons squad. Multiple up-and-downs later, and the Warriors exit Eugene with the 84-66 victory.
Corban held the advantage on every facet of the game tonight, specifically winning the battles in the paint by outrebounding the Beacons offensively to double them up in second chance points, 12-6. Taking the battle of the boards allowed the Warriors to score 50 points in the paint, over half of their total points.
Additionally, the Navy and Gold's high intensity defense resulted in double the amount of turnovers for Bushnell, converting 19 points out of the Beacons' 20 miscues.
Senior guard Matteo Escheik dropped a team-high 15 points by shooting 70% from the floor, adding a quartet of rebounds along the way. All the big men saw some love tonight in the stat sheet as senior forward Darius Henderson tallied 11 points and hauled in five rebounds of his own.
Coming off the bench tonight to provide his highest minutes played in a single contest thus far this season was senior forward James Carlson. He scored 12 of Corban's points in the paint and finished with a season-high 13 points, crashing both the offensive and defensive glass to pick up a game-high eight rebounds.
The Beacons' lone offensive star was Schlabach, who scored a game-high 22 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field. Bushnell tried to get him as much floor time as possible to keep his hot hand in 32 minutes played, but the physicality on Corban's end didn't provide the Beacons with that privilege. Richmond and forward Cory Johnson provided 13 and 10 points, respectively, as the only other Beacons to reach the double-digit mark.
The Warriors will immediately return to action following the Thanksgiving holiday, when they travel to Costa Mesa, Calif. for the Vanguard University Thanksgiving Tourney that will play out November 25th and 26th. Corban will battle La Sierra University at 1:30pm PST on the 25th, while their contest with the (RV) University of Antelope Valley will begin at 4pm PST the following afternoon.
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