ASHLAND, Ore. – While the RV Corban University Men's Basketball team (11-4, 7-2) has boasted one of the best defenses in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) through the first ten games of the conference slate, they needed to find a touch more of their offensive identity tonight if they wanted to find a win on the road, falling to a 72-62 result at the hands of the Southern Oregon University Raiders (9-6, 5-4) to close out their four-game road trip.
"Tonight was a tough one, we didn't have the pop we would have wanted and needed. We shot the ball pretty poorly, and we were just a step behind defensively which led to us fouling and putting them at the line," Corban Head Coach Taylor Kelly explained following just their second conference loss of the season.
"Our guys battled and kept competing, but we came up just a little short. I love our group and am excited to get back home to finish out the first half of league play," Kelly continued.
Back-to-back scoreless droughts for both squads is how the contest kicked off in Ashland this evening, as the Warriors quickly went from a 5-0 advantage to a 6-5 deficit in the matter of seconds, forcing Coach Kelly to call timeout with only three minutes of game clock gone.
The Raiders continued to pile on the offense in the opening half, hoping to secure enough of a lead to force the Warriors into making mistakes on the defensive end down the stretch. A three-pointer and another defensive stop, and Southern Oregon took a 16-7 lead into the first media timeout.
After falling behind by double-digits early in the first half, the Navy and Gold were able to make a push in the back half of the period, forcing a 23-20 shortage with 6:34 to play before halftime. With less than four minutes remaining in the half, senior guard Masie Mohammadi hit a deep three-pointer to give the Warriors their first lead since their 5-0 advantage, leading 30-29 and gaining momentum.
A pair of free throws to end the half gave the Raiders a narrow 35-32 lead, but the fact the Warriors were able to fight back from a double-digit margin showed the fight that Coach Kelly needed from his group if Corban was going to find a win condition at the Lithia Motors Pavilion tonight.
Junior guard Taylor Anderson paced the offense in the first half with 10 points, tied for the game-high with SOU guards Atmar Mundu and Will Graves. Senior forward Darius Henderson also pitched in seven points and a team-high five rebounds to this point in the contest.
Corban began the second half the same way they began the game, scoring the first five points and taking a slight two-point lead before Southern Oregon tied everything back up at 37-all on a pullup fadeaway in the paint. Shot-for-shot the Warriors and Raiders went, with neither team able to distance themselves from the other as the second half moved forward.
Finally, the Raiders started to find consistency in the paint once again, as driving to the hoop and forcing contact to shoot free throws was working wonders for the Ashland university. With SOU now in front 58-51 and holding a 20-9 foul advantage in their favor, the Raiders discovered a recipe for success that inhibited the defensive heavy Warrior lineup.
Despite their best efforts, the Navy and Gold couldn't overcome their foul deficit to mount a comeback on the Raiders' home floor, falling - to SOU on Saturday evening to drop to 8-2 in conference play. The Raiders were able to hit the shots they needed down the stretch to pull off the upset win, sending the Warriors back to Salem with a bitter taste in their mouths.
The consistent Corban offense that Warrior Nation is accustomed to seeing fell flat tonight, shooting just 29.2% from the field and scoring only eight points off SOU miscues. The defense was solid for a majority of the contest by forcing 12 SOU turnovers, yet the offense just couldn't find the bottom of the basket. Combined with a 23-13 foul margin and 29 Southern Oregon' free throw attempts to Corban's 15, the Warriors couldn't find the ability to close out what would have been their sixth-straight win.
Anderson scored a team-high 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting for Corban and dished out a game-high five assists, while Henderson earned 10 points and hauled in seven rebounds. Four different Warriors scored an additional eight points apiece, including senior guard Mateo Escheik who added eight boards as well.
The Raiders shot just under 40% as a team yet had two starters and a reserve player in double-digit scoring tonight. Graves earned the game-high 20 points coming off the bench, while Mundu added 17 points of his own. Forward Dominic McGarvey notched the only double-double of the evening with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while fellow forward Josh Meyer fell one stat shy in each category for his own double-double with nine points and nine boards.
Corban Men's Basketball returns to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center next weekend in their biggest home games of the season thus far, as they're set to host an incredibly tough Eastern Oregon University squad (11-4, 8-1) and No. 3 College of Idaho (14-1, 9-0) with the top of the CCC standings on the line. The Warriors and Mountaineers will kick off the weekend at 5:30pm PST on Friday, followed by the NAIA Top 25 matchup with the Yotes at 3pm PST the following afternoon. You can purchase tickets ahead of time by clicking HERE and selecting your game of choice.
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