SALEM, Ore. – For only the second time this season, the RV Corban University Men's Basketball team (13-7, 9-5) lost back-to-back games, falling to Bushnell University (8-12, 6-8) on the Warriors' home court 71-66, after the Beacons mounted a double-digit second half comeback.

"Disappointing night for us, our guys wanted this so bad, and we played a little too careless at times tonight," Corban Head Coach Taylor Kelly said shortly after the home defeat. "We made some bad decisions down the stretch when we were trying to make a play to get back into this that ultimately were unnecessary. We dug ourselves a hole and it cost us, but I was glad to see the guys reestablish themselves and force Bushnell into a tight situation. We have a great squad; we will bounce back from this."

The Warriors and Beacons battle back-and-forth through the first five minutes of this contest, before the Navy and Gold were able to mount a 29-13 run over the next 10 minutes of action, capitalized by a buzzer beating three-pointer from junior guard Josiah Roth.

Despite falling behind early, the Beacons remained resilient and were able to minimize the damage done prior to the halftime break, cutting their deficit in half to trail 40-32 with 20 minutes of action yet to be played.

Beacons' guard Luke Smith came off the bench to lead the team in points with nine at the break, while Corban junior guard Taylor Anderson tallied the same number of points, adding an assist and steal in the process.

Bushnell wasted hardly any time riding that first half ending momentum into a single-possession contest, jumping out of the halftime break to the sound of an 8-2 run and forcing Coach Kelly into calling a timeout.

With 9:23 remaining in the game, Bushnell guard Kaden Sand beat the buzzer on a three-point attempt, only the second three-pointer of the game for the Beacons all night long, which officially gave them the lead that would stand to prove the remainder of the evening. They had managed to keep the Warriors without a field goal for eight entire minutes, something the Corban offense has yet to endure thus far this season.

The energy had been completely sucked out of the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center by Bushnell, who now held a 59-50 scoreboard in their favor after trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half. The Warriors tried numerous times to counteract what the Beacons had pulled off over the course of the second half, but the shots just wouldn't fall for Corban no matter what they could muster up on the offensive end.

The Warriors managed to pull within a single possession on two separate occasions in the final minute of play, after putting the Beacons at the free throw line and forcing them to miss charity stripe opportunities. They even held possession needing just one basket to tie the game, but a missed three-pointer in the corner followed by a Bushnell defensive team rebound sank the Warriors' dreams of a comeback bid of their own in the closing seconds.

The Beacons held the rebounding margin, turnover margin, points in the paint advantage, and even points off turnovers over the 40 minutes of CCC basketball played this evening, leading to the Warriors unprecedented loss on their home court. Corban even managed to still shoot better from the field, both overall and beyond the three-point line, but 14 extra free-throw attempts that resulted in 13 more points for the Beacons was the eventual downfall for the Navy and Gold.

Junior guard Collin Warmouth led the depleted Warriors lineup with 14 points and four rebounds, shooting 50% from the field in 28 minutes of action. Anderson added 13 points and a pair of boards/steals, while senior forward Darius Henderson fell just one points shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Beacons' center Spencer Hoffman scored a game-high 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting tonight, bringing down eight rebounds in the process. Smith finished with 12 points in only 15 minutes played, while guard Stevie Schlabach provided 13 points after playing nearly the entire contest.

RV Corban Men's Basketball will see the court next on Friday, January 27th, at 7:30pm PST, as the Warriors will look to host the Geoducks of The Evergreen State College (1-15, 1-12) in a must-win CCC matchup on their home floor.

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