EUGENE, Ore. – The heroics of one of the Corban University Men's Basketball team's upperclassmen leaders provided the Warriors with the first rivalry sweep of Bushnell University since the 2020-21 season, as the Navy and Gold jumped out to a substantial first half lead and powered through the final minutes to clinch an 81-79 road victory to start the second half of conference play.
"Man, we didn't make that easy, but I thought we were very dominant for a large majority of that game," Warriors' head coach Taylor Kelly shared shortly after his team's statement win in Eugene. "We had a few costly errors down the stretch that gave them a shot to win the game, but our senior leader Taylor came through for us to hit the game winning lay-up. I'm so proud of him and all our guys for how they fought and remained focused on the gameplan we laid out."
Just like in their most recent contest down in Klamath Falls, the Warriors' offense came out with electric energy to start the game, jumping out to a 12-6 lead against the Beacons (9-9, 6-6) and forcing an early timeout. Corban (10-7, 7-5) play calling has continued to show improvement over the last few weeks, but with little points to show for it once the halftime buzzer sounds.
Bushnell battled back and took the lead back on their home court temporarily before the Navy and Gold stormed back with some set plays and takeaways defensively behind the nearly perfect shooting performance of senior guard Taylor Anderson who missed just two shots in the entire first half despite taking nine shots from the field.
Anderson led all scorers in the first half with a breezy 18 points to help the Warriors command a 52-41 lead at halftime, with junior forward Jay Wilson right behind him at 14 points with the duo shooting a combined 14-of-18 from the field.
Despite holding a double-digit lead at halftime, the Beacons continued to utilize their home court advantage to slowly chip away at the Warriors lead, with Bushnell eventually pulling to within a single possession with 1:14 remaining in the contest. Corban's offense had continued to score at an efficient rate, but the Beacons had finally found their own offensive presence and used the foul line and three-point line to steadily gain traction over the second half.
On the following Corban possession, a turnover on the baseline provided the Beacons an opportunity to pull within two or tie the game with a 77-74 scoreboard in favor of the Warriors. Not willing to give up the lead just yet, the Navy and Gold allowed the easy layup with little contention to get the ball back clinging to a one-point lead.
Unable to earn a steal in the backcourt, the Beacons fouled senior guard Reece Van Lierop with 19.5 seconds remaining to send him to the free throw line, where he splashed both with ease and provided Corban with their three-point lead once again and forced Bushnell into needing a three-ball.
Even though the shot came up short, Beacons' guard Stevie Schlabach was fouled in the act and provided three free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining. After the first attempt rattled around for a bit before falling into the netting, Schlabach sank the second and third with ease to allow the Beacons to somehow scratch and claw their way back into a 79-all draw with only seconds remaining in regulation.
Whenever Coach Kelly needed a basket in tonight's game, Anderson was always the catalyst to either kickstart the play or take control all on his own. Having to cover the entire court in 7.7 seconds, Anderson received the inbound pass and went coast-to-coast in the blink of an eye, scooping the ball up and over the defender's reach to lay the ball up with less than two seconds remaining on the scoreboard.
With the Beacons having used all of their timeouts amongst their comeback bid over the final three minutes of play, they were forced to immediately inbound the ball and attempt a halfcourt three-pointer as the horn expired, which was just wide-right and sent the Corban bench into pandemonium.
Anderson completed his career game with a game-high 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists in 34 minutes played, sinking a season-best nine field goals on 14 attempts. His rebound and assist totals also represent season-high marks for the Grants Pass native. Junior forward Jay Wilson continues to be the rock in the middle of the floor for Coach Kelly's program, scoring 17 points and hauling in six rebounds in just 18 minutes played due to foul trouble. Senior guards Reece Van Lierop and Collin Warmouth added 11 and 10 points, respectively, to provide the team with go-to scorers from every angle of the court.
Bushnell guard Kaden Sand scored a team-high 17 points in with six rebounds tonight, leading five different Beacons in double-figures in scoring. Schlabach and guard Alexis Angeles pitched in 14 points apiece, while guards Luke Smith (11 points) and Cory Johnson (10 points) hopped off the bench to lead the reserves. Forward Spencer Hoffman brought down a game-high 13 boards in the Beacons' efforts.
With the second half of conference play now in full swing, the Warriors will return home to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center for a 7:30pm matchup with Warner Pacific University (2-16, 0-12).
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