SALEM, Ore. – After keeping themselves in the top two spots of the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) standings for a majority of the 2022-23 season, a rough final month of play for the receiving votes (RV) Corban University Men's Basketball team, where they went 6-4 overall after a 13-5 start to the season, caused them to fall to the No. 5 seed in the CCC Tournament. As the fifth overall seed, the Navy and Gold will compete on the road in every round, unless potential upsets allow them to remain as a higher seed.
To access the 2022-23 CCC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship page, click HERE.
The following schedule depicts the CCC Tournament Quarterfinal matchups, with the higher seed hosting each contest:
- #8 Bushnell University at #1 College of Idaho
- #7 Oregon Tech at #2 Eastern Oregon University
- #6 Lewis-Clark State College at #3 Southern Oregon University
- #5 Corban University at #4 Warner Pacific University
The Warriors (19-9, 15-7 CCC) will open the CCC Tournament in Portland, Oregon against the No. 4-seeded Warner Pacific University Knights (18-9, 15-7 CCC), one of only two teams that Corban went 0-2 against in the regular season. With their two single-digit losses to WPU in the rearview lights, the Warriors are determined to not be a first-round exit and have made the adjustments they find necessary to flip the script on the Knights.
Warner Pacific boasts an incredibly fast-paced offensive attack, creating contact to find their way to the free throw line where they shoot a conference-high 81.4% from the charity stripe. The Knights also have two of the top 10 scorers in the CCC in their starting lineup, senior guards Thomas Miles and Isaac Etter who average 18.3 and 14.5 points per game, respectively.
The last two games between the Warriors and Knights each went down to the wire, as Warner Pac pulled off the road upset 86-81 on Corban's home court in just the second conference game of the year for both squads, before they bolstered their record once again with a 75-68 victory over the Navy and Gold in Portland a little over a month later.
Corban enters the postseason on a two-game winning streak, knocking off No. 3-seeded Southern Oregon and No. 7-seeded Oregon Tech in the final two games of the regular season on Tim Hills Court. The Warriors needed to see another SOU loss on the final day of the regular season in order to host a quarterfinal game, but SOU was victorious against the No. 8-seeded Beacons to clinch the No. 3 overall seed.
The Knights were on a four-game hot streak before being upended by No. 6-seeded LC State in their final conference contest last Saturday, causing them to fall to the No. 4 overall seed after a potential chance of swiping the No. 2 seed from EOU. After an incredibly consistent conference slate from Warner Pacific, the Knights hope to be rewarded with an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament by causing some chaos in the CCC Playoffs.
Warriors' Head Coach Taylor Kelly brings an incredibly defensive heavy gameplan to the court for his players, as his squad ranks second overall in the conference for scoring defense and sits in the top five for every defensive statistic. The Warriors will look to the leadership of two senior student-athletes in forwards Darius Henderson and James Carlson in rim protection, while junior guards Taylor Anderson and Dirk Helaire II will continue to lockdown the perimeter shooters.
The key area to watch for the Knights will be found in the difference between their scoring guards and post players, as when one seems to struggle, the other steps up as needed. Corban has done a phenomenal job of locking down the posts in their first two matchups, but Warner Pac's guards have stepped up and shot the ball behind the three-point line at a highly efficient 48%.
Despite the heavy focus on the defensive end, the Warriors still hold the third best scoring margin in the conference with a +10.2 advantage overall. Meanwhile, the Knights are barely in the positive at +2.1 on the season, showing they can stay locked in and find a way to win tight games down the stretch.
The winner of the conference tournament will receive the CCC's second automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament, which will begin on March 10th with the Opening Rounds. Should the College of Idaho claim the CCC Tournament title, the bid would go to the No. 2-seeded Mountaineers.
Live video and stats for this week's quarterfinal matchup between the Warriors and Knights will be made available HERE.
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