HELENA, Mont. – The Corban University Men's Basketball team (6-2, 2-1) jumped back into non-conference play earlier today at the Comfort Suites Classic, hosted by Carroll College, where the Warriors stormed back in the second half to take a 71-63 victory over Montana State University-Northern (7-2, 1-1).
"Tonight was a gritty win for us, MSU-Northern is a really tough, well-coached team and our guys did a great job competing for 40 minutes," Corban Head Coach Taylor Kelly said shortly after his team's neutral site win.
"Darius was incredible for us in the first half, which allowed us to finish the half all tied up after struggling for most of it. We did a much better job of defending and rebounding in the second half, which allowed us to garner some separation," Kelly continued.
"Taylor did a great job in the second half of getting us into rhythm and making the right plays. Loved out fight tonight and looking forward to a battle tomorrow with the tournament hosts, Carroll," Kelly concluded.
The Lights lead for almost the entirety of the first half, which was a hard-fought defensive slugfest that featured only 68 points in total. On two occasions, MSUN jumped out to double-digit leads, as the Warriors were struggling to find the bottom of the basket.
However, Corban mounted an impressive 18-8 run in the final seven and a half minutes to close the gap over MSU-Northern, where senior forward Darius Henderson scored 10 of his 17 first half points to storm back and tie this contest at 34-all entering the halftime break.
Henderson led all scorers at the break with 17 points, while junior guard Taylor Anderson followed behind with six points as the only two Corban starters to score. Lights' guard Anthony Braggs Jr. came off the bench to drop nine first half points, while starting guards CJ Nelson and Immanuel Anderson each pitched in six points.
This contest was definitely the tale of two halves, as a Warriors comeback to end the first sparked the offense they needed in the second of the two halves to trail for only 45 seconds in the entire half. After a jumper from Anderson gave the Navy and Gold a one-point lead at 45-44, the Warriors would not relinquish that lead for the remainder of the contest, stretching the lead to double-digits at the 6:58 minute mark.
MSU-Northern would pull to within seven points with a minute and a half remaining, but missed a transition three-pointer that would allow too much time to run off the clock, providing the Warriors with their victory.
As a team, the Warriors dominated in second chance points and making the most off Lights' turnovers, scoring more than double-digits in both categories over MSUN to take advantage of their miscues. Corban was also able to hold MSU-Northern to just 28.6% from beyond the three-point line, while shooting over 40% themselves.
Henderson played 12 minutes in the second half but acted in the support role to dish out a handful of assists and nab more rebounds, finishing the evening with 17 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Anderson jumped to a 12-point, four-rebound and three-assist stat line for the contest, while junior guard Andrew Stafford came off the bench to finish with 13 points and five boards.
Braggs scored a team-high 14 points in a reserve player role for the Lights, while Nelson added 13 points with a team-high five rebounds and three steals. MSUN guard Tanner McCliment-Call was the only other MSU-Northern student-athlete in double-digit scoring, dropping 11 points in 25 minutes of action and shooting 50% from the field.
The Warriors get their first taste of an NAIA Top 25 opponent tomorrow evening, as they will battle the tournament hosts, No. 23 Carroll College, at 7pm MST, 6pm PST at the Comfort Suites Classic finale.
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