KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – With a double-digit lead and playing some of their best defense this season, nobody expected the RV Corban University Men's Basketball team (11-3, 7-1) to find themselves in a tightly contested game down the stretch against the Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls (6-8, 3-5), who stormed back from a 17-point deficit to force the Warriors into a narrow 73-67 road victory, a game they needed to have in order to stay near the top of the conference standings.

"Tonight's outcome was a massive win for our program," Warriors' Head Coach Taylor Kelly said following his team's impressive win on the road. "We had guys step up and make big plays offensively and defensively."

Kelly went on to share, "Mateo and Masie both really came through tonight at crucial moments in the game. I'm thrilled by how hard our guys fight for each other and how committed they are to maxing out. This win was just another example of that mentality they all share."

Oregon Tech set the pace early for what would be a back-and-forth affair for the two Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) powerhouses, as the Owls jumped out to a 17-12 lead just after the first media timeout of the contest. OIT had already seen multiple opportunities underneath the basket to double up Corban 12-6 in the paint thus far.

The hardnose defense of Corban once again showed why they can hang with the best in the conference, as the Warriors held OIT scoreless and jammed the next 10 points to take a 22-17 lead over the Owls, capitalized by an and-one layup from sophomore forward Jared Franklin that gave the Navy and Gold a bucket on five-straight possessions.

Committing hardly any fouls in the first half provided the Warriors with plenty of opportunities from the charity stripe on their own end, which proved to be the difference maker up to the second media time out with 6:57 remaining in the first half. Corban forced double-digit turnovers on the Owls with four minutes to play until halftime, with OIT completely out of rhythm on both ends of the floor.

Warriors' senior guard Masie Mohammadi put the exclamation mark on a 19-3 run by hitting a three-pointer as a foul was called on the Owls, which gave junior guard Collin Warmouth two good free throws from the line, and thus a 33-20 lead for the Navy and Gold. Corban's largest lead of the half came on yet another forced turnover, with Mohammadi jumping out in front of a pass to score a breakaway layup and earn a 37-20 advantage.

The Owls managed to cut the lead ever so slightly prior to the halftime break, with the Warriors out in front 40-28 and playing tremendous defense. Corban senior guard Mateo Escheik paced the Warriors' offense in the first half, scoring a then game-high seven points and nabbing a trio of rebounds. Owls' guard Kam Osborn and forward Blake Jensen each scored seven points apiece for OIT thus far.

The Warriors grabbed their 17-point lead once again within the first two minutes of the second half on two free throws from Mohammadi, who managed to draw yet another Oregon Tech foul, this time on a three-point attempt. He hit two of three free throw attempts for the Warriors to take a 45-28 lead with 18 minutes to play.

OIT tallied a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to pull within single-digits for the first time since early in the first half, as Osborn hit back-to-back three-pointers to force a timeout from Coach Kelly after two buckets in the paint.

Warmouth and Mohammadi jumped the lead back to double-digits with a fadeaway jumper and breakaway three-ball, respectively, pushing the Corban advantage to 50-38, and putting the momentum back in the hands of the Warriors.

OIT guard Keegan Shivers put the entire Owls squad on his shoulders over the next several minutes, as he scored eight-straight points to cut the Corban-lead to just five points with plenty of time remaining on the clock. The Warriors continued to remain resilient through pressure, holding on to an eight-point lead at a media timeout with 9:53 remaining in the contest.

A game of runs swung back in the favor of the Owls once again, with Oregon Tech jumping all over the Warriors to pull within a single possession, 59-56 in favor of the Navy and Gold. With the hometown crowd reinvigorated for the first time in the second half, Coach Kelly and his squad knew they needed to double down on the Owls if they were going to find a victory.

Playing their best basketball since the opening minutes, the Owls cut the once 17-point lead to just two with 2:53 left on the clock, with every Owl at Danny Miles Court on their feet during a Corban called timeout.

The Warriors managed to score the next four points to earn a not-so-comfortable 68-62 lead, which Oregon Tech dug into on the next possession to make it 68-64 with 1:04 remaining.

With less than a minute remaining, Warriors' junior guard Taylor Anderson hit an incredibly huge three-pointer from about two feet behind the arc, giving Corban a 71-64 advantage and effectively icing this contest. Despite a blowing a massive lead on the road, the Warriors hit their free throws down the stretch to escape from Klamath Falls with the 73-67 victory.

Keeping the intensity on defense was crucial in the Warriors' victory tonight, as Corban managed to outscore the Owls 22-5 off turnovers off an incredibly lopsided 17-8 turnover margin favoring the Navy and Gold.

Consistency on defense translated to the offensive end as well, as the Warriors shot 41.5% from the field over the 40 minutes of basketball played tonight and 40% from beyond the arc. They also hit their free throws needed down the stretch as well from the free throw line, earning 35 trips to the line and scoring on 23 of them.

Corban was led primarily by the guards tonight for the first time all season, as Escheik and Mohammadi each scored 16 points and hauled in seven and five rebounds, respectively. Anderson threw together 12 points as well, with his made three-pointer off an offensive rebound with less than a minute remaining proving to be the dagger in tonight's contest.

Osborn scored a game-high 18 points for the Owls, while guard Jamison Guerra notched 14 points and four assists. Guard Keegan Shivers shook off a cold first half to rebound offensively in the second, scoring 12 points and effectively putting the Owls back in this game with plenty of minutes yet to be played. He added five boards and a game-high five assists along the way.

OIT forward Kody Bauman and guard Kaison Faust were the only student-athletes tonight to reach the double-digit rebound mark, with Bauman hauling in 12 and Faust finding 11 more. Bauman also tied Warriors' senior forward Darius Henderson and junior guard Dirk Helaire II in total blocks, all three of whom swatted a pair of blocks each.

The Warriors play yet another tough CCC foe tomorrow evening, as RV Corban Men's Basketball heads east to take on the Raiders of Southern Oregon University (8-6, 4-4) at 5pm PST.

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