SALEM, Ore. – Following an intense, hard fought 30 minutes of gameplay tonight on Tim Hills Court, the visiting squad caught fire from the field over the final 10 minutes to create enough separation to leave with a crucial road victory, as the RV Corban University Men's Basketball team (12-5, 8-3) fell short against the No. 1 College of Idaho Yotes (16-1, 11-0) in the closing moments to the sound of a 94-78 margin.
"Tonight was a tough one. I believe our guys were prepared, focused, and wanted the win," Corban Head Coach Taylor Kelly said earlier this evening. "We had a few too many breakdowns and that cost us big time. Hats off to C of I, we will get better from this."
An aggressive start from the Warriors led to a quick 6-0 run, eventually stretching their lead to double-digits at 16-6 before Yotes' Head Coach Colby Blaine dug deep into the bench to bring in four bench players just six minutes into the contest. That rotation swap is exactly what College of Idaho needed to erase an early deficit, as the reserves scored seven-straight points to pull within a single possession.
A three-pointer from Coyotes' guard Drew Wyman gave the visitors their first lead of the evening, setting up an intense back-and-forth remainder of the first half that featured two ties and a pair of lead changes.
Determined to stay in this contest, the Warriors erased a nine-point deficit over the final five minutes of the opening period to the tune of an 11-4 run, with the Yotes taking a narrow 38-37 halftime lead after Wyman connected on an inbounds jumper with less than a second remaining.
Wyman was the lone starter for College of Idaho to find consistency in the opening half, scoring 12 points to lead all players. Meanwhile, the Warriors took a balanced approach by sharing the ball and trusting the next pass would result in points, as eight different Corban student-athletes scored points, led by senior forward Darius Henderson and junior guard Collin Warmouth each scoring seven points apiece.
The Warriors shot the ball at an incredible rate to open the contest, connecting on 68.2% of their field goal attempts and 42.9% from beyond the three-point arc. However, while the Yotes missed an uncharacteristically high number of shots in the first half, they managed to turn the ball over just a single time, which would prove to be the leading statistic at the conclusion of the contest.
After the Warriors opened the second half on a 6-4 run to take a slim 43-42 lead, the Yotes would take their final lead of the contest on yet another three-point bucket, leading to another quartet of three-pointers and a pair of layups to stretch their lead back to nine-points.
The Yotes highflying offense took over the contest from there, as the once cold shooting visitors had suddenly found their mojo on the road and carefully navigated the final 10 minutes by taking calculated shots and stuffing the Navy and Gold at the opposite end of the court.
A lead that grew to as many as 18 points finally settled at 16 points on a last second jumper from behind the backboard by Warriors' sophomore forward Jared Franklin, ending the somber result with an otherwise unconventional shot attempt that came about 10 minutes too late.
As previously mentioned, turnovers and the results of turnovers were the main difference maker in this contest, as 15 Corban turnovers led to 27 C of I points, compared to only three points on five Coyote turnovers for the Warriors. Additionally, after The College of Idaho starting core couldn't figure it out against the Warriors' starters, their bench players stepped up big to outscore the Corban reserves 54-20.
Henderson concluded his evening with a double-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds before fouling out with less than two minutes remaining, while three more Corban starters were in double-figures to pace the Navy and Gold throughout the contest. Escheik snagged a team-high 18 points on an incredible 9-for-11 shooting performance, while senior forward James Carlson was the final Warrior in double-figures with 10 points and four rebounds.
Wyman connected on four of his three-point attempts and hit four more traditional shots to score six more points than the rest of the Yotes' starters combined. Guard Johnny Radford had the game of his young collegiate career, coming off the bench and scoring 20 of his game-high 28 points in the second quarter alone, a new career-high for the Hailey, Idaho native.
Yotes' reserve point guard Samaje Morgan helped the Yotes earn the bounce back win with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, while dealing out a game-high eight assists at the helm of the offense.
The Warriors will kick off the second half of conference play on the road next weekend, as they'll head north to Multnomah University (11-6, 6-5) and Warner Pacific University (11-5, 8-3) for a pair of crucial road contests.
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