HELENA, Mont. – The first men's basketball of the Comfort Suites Classic, hosted by Carroll College, was yet another difficult matchup for the Corban University Men's Basketball team, as the Warriors held off a last second comeback bid by Montana State University-Northern at the PE Center on Carroll's campus for a 63-60 neutral site victory.

"This was a great team win for us," Warriors' head coach Taylor Kelly stated earlier this evening. "MSUN is a tough team who is very well-coached. We had some guys really step up and defend well. Jay had some big rebounds to finish the game for us. Taylor made some big shots and decisions for us down the stretch. We are looking forward to building some momentum this weekend."

An extremely sluggish start offensively for both the Warriors (2-1) and Lights (4-2) resulted in only 51 combined points to be scored in the opening half, with Corban clinging to a 29-22 halftime lead by hitting 48% of their field goals while MSUN hit only eight baskets in 20 minutes of action. Senior guard Taylor Anderson was the team leader at the half with nine points scored.

A contest featuring 19 lead changes and three ties was expected to be a tight race to the finish line, with the Warriors taking their final lead of the night with six and a half minutes remaining. However, the MSUN didn't make things easy for Corban, as their five-point lead establish on a pair of free throws by junior forward Jay Wilson was quickly cut to a single possession when Lights' forward Jacob Randall hit a jumper just twelve seconds after Wilson's final free throw.

Montana State-Northern had not one, but two opportunities to send the game to overtime in the final seconds of the game, taking two three-pointers within the last eight seconds of the contest but both clanged off the rim to provide the Warriors with a key non-conference victory over a team who had already earned four wins thus far this season.

Anderson completed his evening with a game-high 17 points by hitting 80% of his field goal attempts, dealing out a game-high four assist as well. Junior guard Aundree Polk tallied 15 points with a team-best six rebounds, while senior guard Reece Van Lierop splashed a trio of threes to help lead Polk from beyond the arc.

Converting on under 28% of their field goals was detrimental for the Lights, yet three players still managed to hit double-digits in scoring, led by guard Dae'Kwon Watson and his team-high 16 points. Forward JJ Thomas was the only double-digit rebounder with 10 boards, while guard Myles Dalton had the best all-around performance with 13 points and seven rebounds.

The Warriors are back in the PE Center tomorrow evening for a 7:30pm MT tipoff with the tournament hosts Carroll College (1-2) before heading back home for their lone exhibition of the season.

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