SALEM, Ore. – Five different Warriors found their way into double-digit scoring efforts this evening on Tim Hills Court, providing the Corban University Men's Basketball team with just enough momentum to capture an 87-81 victory over I-5 rival Bushnell University and send the Beacons to the conference loss column for the first time this season. The Warriors stayed perfect in conference play with the win, setting up another undefeated matchup next Friday in Lewiston, Idaho.

"I'm really proud of the way our guys competed tonight," Corban head coach Taylor Kelly commented earlier this evening. "They stuck with it for forty full minutes. I thought we did a tremendous job of rebounding the basketball. We didn't defend well in the second half, but we locked in over the final minutes of the game and got key stops and rebounds to close them out. Jay had some big baskets and rebounds, and I'm proud of how he played down the stretch to help us win that game."

An opening three minutes of back-and-forth basketball was quickly eradicated when the Warriors (5-2, 3-0) couldn't miss from their half of the court, while the Beacons (5-4, 2-1) were ice cold on the offensive end and resulted in a 13-0 run by the hometown program. Corban extended the lead to as many as 18 points, but Bushnell was able to somewhat regain composure and cut that mark in half via the 41-32 score at the break.

The opening of the second half continued to be an important part of the Warriors' four-game winning streak, as the increased their lead back to double-digits and would remain in total control until about the midway point of the period. With the Navy and Gold finally hitting a wall, the Beacons took advantage and slowly chipped away at the Corban lead, eventually finding themselves just one possession away from tying or taking the lead with under seven minutes remaining.

At the 4:18 mark, a Beacon layup cut the Corban advantage to just a single point but picked the wrong time to start making mistakes on the defensive end, allowing the Warriors to shoot 10 free throws over the final four minutes and cling to the six-point victory on their home court.

Junior forward Jay Wilson and junior guard Aundree Polk were both integral in their team's third win of the early conference season, each scoring 15 points off the bench in just 35 combined minutes of play. Wilson added six rebounds, while Polk connected on a game-high three shots from beyond the arc.

The Beacons didn't go down on Friday evening without a fight, as they were led by guard Kaden Sand who urged to bring his team back into this contest with a game-high 25 points while dishing out seven assists. However, just two more Bushnell student-athletes reached double-digit scoring, which would prove to be essential if the Beacons wanted to extend their road winning streak in Salem to a third-straight season. Forward Ashton Harvey and guard Luke Smith scored 14 and 10 points, respectively, in reserve opportunities today.

Conference juggernaut Lewis-Clark State College (5-4, 3-0) will host the Navy and Gold next Friday at 7pm in the P1FCU Activity Center, where one more CCC program will fall from the undefeated ranks in a primetime Friday night matchup.

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