SALEM, Ore. – It was a bare knuckle brawl in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center tonight between the Corban University Men's Basketball team and the visiting Raiders of Southern Oregon University, as neither program could build much of a lead the entire evening and eventually resulted in a down-to-the-wire finish for the Warriors to keep their undefeated Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) record unscathed via their 67-62 home victory.
"What a big win on our home court for the Warriors," Corban head coach Taylor Kelly shared earlier tonight. "Our guys had a great defensive effort forcing eighteen turnovers and then coming down and only turning it over seven times ourselves, which proved to be a massive difference in the game. Luc was tremendous in the first half offensively and Spivey made big time plays down the stretch offensively. I'm really proud of how our group is coming together and the toughness they are exhibiting nightly."
Needing a senior leader to step up and take charge right out of the gate, Coach Kelly and the Warriors (6-4, 4-0) looked towards guard Luc Krystkowiak and got exactly what they needed out of the Salt Lake City native. After the Raiders (5-5, 0-4) scored the first five points of the contest, Krystkowiak would go on to outscore SOU 11-4 on his own over the next five minutes of play, capitalized by an and-1 opportunity after he was fouled on a layup.
Corban and Southern Oregon would go shot-for-shot over the remainder of the first half, eventually settling for a 36-34 in favor of the Navy and Gold thanks to one final layup by Krystkowiak to give him 17 points for the half, missing just two field attempts in 15 minutes played. Meanwhile, seven turnovers for the Raiders proved costly and resulted in their halftime deficit despite scoring on 56% of their attempts from the court. The Warriors would eventually outscore SOU 21-3 off turnovers, the most lopsided team statistic of the evening.
A 7-0 run out of the halftime break by Southern Oregon had Corban on their heels offensively, yet Krystkowiak once again flipped the momentum with a timely three-pointer that led to another layup by Luc. While Krystkowiak would be held scoreless for the remainder of the contest from that point forward, the energy in the building had already flipped back to the Warriors' bench and grew to an all-time high following a technical foul on the Raiders' head coach right after an SOU offensive foul was called.
From that point on, the Navy and Gold would never trail again in their Friday night matchup and while the Raiders did pull to within a single possession at 65-62 with 55 seconds remaining, senior guard RJ Veliz sank both of his free throw attempts and led the Corban defense to back-to-back stops to solidify the five-point victory.
Responsible for over half the total points scored by Corban tonight was the eldest Krystkowiak and junior guard Spivey Word, as the duo scored 22 and 16 points, respectively, with Luc dominating the paint throughout the first half while Word played the clutch role of hitting crucial shots down the stretch. Krystkowiak was 10-for-15 from the field, hauling in three rebounds around the way. Veliz added six points and was the team's leading rebounder and assister with seven boards and four dimes recorded tonight.
Raiders' forward Bryce Dyer scored 14 points with nine rebounds to fall one shy of a double-double performance and represent the only SOU player in double-figure scoring. Guard Elijah Jackson dropped nine points, while guard Mason Whittaker and guard Khalil Chatman pitched in eight points apiece.
A massive CCC matchup will take place tomorrow night on Tim Hills Court, as the Warriors will welcome RV Oregon Tech (7-3, 3-1) to Salem for a 5pm tipoff, which will serve as Corban's last basketball contest prior to the Christmas break and represent the final home athletic event overall in 2024.
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