GLENDALE, Ariz. – After what they thought was their final contest of the 2022-23 season in a 16-point loss to the No. 1-ranked team in the NAIA, the Corban University Men's Basketball team has been granted a redemption story arc via an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament, set to begin early next week across the nation on university campuses.

The Warriors will begin the tournament just like the other 63 teams selected for the postseason berth in the Opening Rounds, as they were placed in the Glendale, Arizona region with an incredibly difficult first round matchup on their hands in the No. 2-ranked team in the country, Arizona Christian University, which is scheduled for March 7th with a 6pm MST, 5pm PST tipoff at the ACU Events Center on the Firestorm's campus.

Following an incredibly hot start to the season, the Corban Men's Basketball team (20-10) can thank their tough non-conference schedule and consistency in earning themselves an at-large bid to the National Tournament, as both conference play and their out-of-conference opponents more than prepared them for the remainder of the season.

After starting the year 5-0 with a pair of impressive home victories over NCAA DII Western Oregon University and another NAIA Tournament team in Westmont College, the Warriors spent the Thanksgiving holiday in southern California with a pair of games against La Sierra University and an eventual NAIA Top 25 team in the University of Antelope Valley. Though they ended up dropping their first game of the year against the Pioneers by a single possession, it would prove to be an incredibly influential game in Corban's postseason worthy resume down the stretch.

Another game against a ranked opponent followed two weeks later, as they battled then No. 23-ranked Carroll College in Helena, Montana down to the wire once again, falling in overtime to the Saints on their home court. These challenging non-conference contests more than prepared the Warriors for one of the toughest conference schedules in the entire NAIA, winning the next five games, three of which came on the road, before losing contests to No. 1-ranked College of Idaho and another NAIA Tournament team in Southern Oregon University.

With by far the most difficult back-half schedule in the conference, Corban preserved through adversity over the second half of their conference slate to earn the No. 5 overall seed in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament, setting up a rematch and revenge game opportunity against the Warner Pacific University Knights, one of only two teams to sweep the regular season matchups against the Warriors.

Knowing their entire postseason dreams were riding on this contest, the Navy and Gold stormed C.C. Perry Gym and gutted out a 73-63 road win over the Knights to prove they can not only win on the road, but learn from their past mistakes to overcome challenges.

Though their conference tourney run was put to rest the following weekend by the No. 1-ranked Yotes, Coach Kelly felt confident that his team had done what they needed to do in order to prove their worth to the NAIA Selection Committee and was determined to plan for any team the NAIA threw their way.

The Warriors will look to their bread and butter defensive scheme to open the tournament against the Firestorm, the primary reason that they found themselves in almost every contest down the stretch this season. While their offensive numbers are more than adequate to earn victories, their defense, which ranks second in the CCC, put the clamps on even the most high-scoring offenses that they faced this season, resulting in their 20-10 overall record.

Senior forward Darius Henderson will more than likely be the focal point of the Warriors' postseason run, as the big man has powered them throughout the season with a team-high 13.5 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game, good enough for a 16th and seventh place finish in the CCC, respectively.

Henderson, a CCC All-Conference selection, was supported by a pair of All-CCC Honorable Mention teammates in senior guard Mateo Escheik and junior guard Taylor Anderson, who provided multiple outlets offensively, granting Coach Kelly with more tools in his strategic gameplan.

Corban's defensive juggernaut will come in the form of junior guard Dirk Helaire II, who ranked top five in steals this season at the conference level and was usually matched up with their opponents' best offensive player.

The remainder of their core will come in the forms of senior forward James Carlson and junior guard Collin Warmouth, with Carlson providing even more height in the paint alongside and in conjunction with Henderson, while Warmouth's intensity on the defensive end and three-point shooting prowess will come in handy during transition opportunities.

Arizona Christian has had an interesting season with many highs and peculiar lows, as they enter the postseason as the only team in the NAIA to defeat The College of Idaho, handing them a season-opening 82-78 loss that sparked a 30-game win streak by the Yotes the remainder of the season.

While they did kick off the 2022-23 season as the No. 1-ranked team in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, the Firestorm had some unorthodox losses throughout the season to unranked teams, the first coming to Westmont College, which is the same team Corban had previously beat not even a week prior to ACU's conference-opening loss.

Despite knocking off then No. 18-ranked Montana Technological University in another non-conference matchup, Arizona Christian was flat out embarrassed in their final home non-conference meeting with then No. 2-ranked Grace College 80-62, which at the time seemed like the last major loss coming for the Firestorm before running their way through the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC).

However, less than a month later, ACU dropped two more games in a four-game span, both to unranked opponents in a road loss to Vanguard University and even more disappointing home loss to The Master's University. They managed to skate through the rest of the regular season unscathed but will enter the NAIA National Tournament on a one-game losing streak after falling to RV Ottawa University at Arizona (OUAZ) in the opening round of the GSAC Tournament.

The Firestorm are very similar to the No. 1-ranked Yotes that the Warriors are more than familiar with, as they don't possess a so-called "MVP" player in their lineup, but rather multiple role players that do their job well and on an extremely consistent basis to power them to a 24-5 overall record this season. With five student-athletes averaging double-digit points per game, and all but one of them collecting over 100 rebounds on the year, Arizona Christian have more than enough outlets to force the issue against Corban's resilient defense.

Forwards Bryce Davis and Mikah Blackwell will provide the biggest issues for the Warriors in the paint, as the big man duo start on a consistent basis and are two of the biggest scoring factors for the Firestorm at 11.7 and 10.6 points per game, respectively.

On the perimeter, Helaire II and the Warriors will look to prevent the ball from reaching the team's leading scorer in guard Paul Hayden, who averages 13.0 points per game and shoots over 50% from the floor, leading to a 42.4% from beyond the three-point arc.

The bracket-style format will pit the winner of the Warriors' opening game against the winner of the No. 2-seeded University of Antelope Valley Pioneers and No. 3-seeded Wayland Baptist University on Wednesday afternoon. The winner of that match will receive a berth to the final site in Kansas City, Missouri. The final site bracket will run from March 13th to 18th, with a National Champion being crowned on the final day.

Live video for the Warriors' Tuesday night contest will be available by clicking HERE, while live stats for the contest can be found HERE.

Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter  l Instagram l Snapchat l  YouTube l  Email

Download our App: iOS (iPhone/iPad) l Android