ASHLAND, Ore. – Despite dropping their third-consecutive contest and representing their only losing skid thus far this season, the Corban University Men's Basketball team was able to dig themselves out of a double-digit deficit in a hostile road environment provided by Southern Oregon University, as the Navy and Gold nearly shocked those present tonight at the Lithia Motors Pavilion with a last second comeback attempt for the ages. A game-tying heave from deep as time expired didn't fall in Corban's favor, yet the fact the Warriors were even in that scenario with the Raiders having never trailed the entire contest was an accomplishment.
"It's always tough to take one on the chin, but we had guys really step up and play well in crucial moments to give us a chance to steal one on the road," Corban head coach Taylor Kelly shared earlier this evening. "I love our group, we have to tighten a few things up on both sides of the ball, but there's no group of guys I'd rather lead."
After both the Warriors (9-6, 6-4) and Raiders (10-6, 8-2) struggled to find their first points through the opening two minutes of tonight's contest, it was the home team that took control early with the crowd behind every shot. However, Corban would cut their early 14-point deficit to a single possession with five minutes to play in the opening half once junior guard Aundree Polk came off the bench and scored a quick 10 points to lead his team at the break, with Southern Oregon able to stretch their lead back to nine at 33-24.
The Navy and Gold's offensive skid has dated back to their near upset over the reigning NAIA national champions in then No. 5-ranked College of Idaho, as the Warriors have been held to under 50% from the field in three-straight contests and didn't make any headway towards changing that narrative in the first half of tonight's game with SOU. Their 11-for-33 field goal margin would qualify for the third lowest mark of the season as a team if the game had concluded after the first 20 minutes of play, needing to relocate that spark that won the program four-straight matchups and a 6-1 conference record at the time.
Slowly but surely, the Warriors crept back into contention of taking the lead on numerous occasions through the second half, knotting the game up on two separate baskets with possessions becoming even more limited. Three student-athletes in particular forced the issue for Corban offensively, as Polk was joined by senior guard Taylor Anderson and junior forward Jay Wilson in double-figures and eventually represented 80% of the team's total points on the day.
With just over three minutes remaining in the contest, Wilson picked the Raiders' pocket and earned a quick layup in transition to tie the game at 61 points apiece, but back-to-back three-pointers by Southern Oregon reserves put the Warriors back in a six-point hole and hardly any time left to climb back out of it. After each team went quiet over the next minute, Corban now had less than a minute with possession and a timeout to rewrite their fate.
Anderson swiftly found a layup on the following possession to cut the lead to four points and senior guard Collin Warmouth snagged a steal on the preceding SOU play that eventually led to another Warrior layup, this time from Polk. With the clock now under 30 seconds, Coach Kelly and his team was forced to foul and send the Raiders to the free throw line in a one-and-one situation, which worked to perfection as they sank the first and missed the second to give the Warriors the ball back and a single three-pointer away from flipping a two-possession game with less than a minute remaining into a possible overtime period.
However, Wilson was charged with an offensive foul under the basket and sent Southern Oregon back to the free throw line with a chance to ice the game, which was promptly wasted on the first attempt and gave Coach Kelly one last chance to draw up a game-tying play.
With the Navy and Gold needing a three-pointer to force overtime and Polk representing the only Warrior with multiple baskets from beyond the three-point line tonight, everyone in Ashland knew the ball was going to the Portland native and was thus immediately double-teamed and had the Raiders' best defender contest his game-tying shot. Despite all of the odds against Polk, his shot just narrowly missed the mark and popped off the back iron, setting up a must-see Senior Night game for Corban against this same SOU crew on February 17th at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
Polk, Wilson, and Anderson finished with 21, 20, and 11 points, respectively, and all shot above 40% tonight from the field to lead the Warriors offensively. Wilson and Polk snagged seven and six rebounds in the paint, while Anderson joined Wilson atop the steals leaderboard with three apiece. After a porous first half of shooting, the Navy and Gold rebounded in the second period to hit a respectable 43.3% of their attempts for the contest and saving an otherwise cold night in their own frontcourt.
A deeper bench for Southern Oregon proved to be a major difference maker in tonight's matchup, as all but two Raiders scored at least three points while their own starting trio hit the double-digit scoring mark as well. Guard Casson Rouse was the team leader with 17 points, while forwards Dominic McGarvey and Brett Hollins added 11 and 10 points in the post, with McGarvey securing seven rebounds to tie Wilson for the game-high mark.
The Warriors will head over the snowy pass to Klamath Falls tomorrow morning for an early evening clash with No. 24-ranked Oregon Tech (13-3, 7-2), looking to upend the Owls on their home court for the second-straight season and keep their three-game winning streak alive against OIT.
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