SALEM, Ore. – An opening half that saw the Corban University Men's Basketball team shoot over 60% from the floor for 56 points while holding the visiting Geoducks of The Evergreen State College to just 18 points on 26% field goals alongside 14 turnovers set the pace for a runaway home victory on Tim Hills Court where every student-athlete that dressed for Warriors' head coach Taylor Kelly saw playing time.
"Tonight was a great night of basketball," Coach Kelly commented. "We had a great defensive half in the first, and it was good to see our guys compete, have some fun, and celebrate one another."
In a contest that was quite literally all Warriors (10-7, 8-3) from start to finish where Corban led for the entire evening, it was an exceptionally great first half on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court that allowed Coach Kelly to clear the bench and test as many lineup combinations against a Geoduck (1-12, 1-9) squad that was able to dig out of their opening period rut to outscore by three in the second half of a "defense optional" half of basketball.
With 4:48 remaining in the first half, junior guard Payton Meyers splashed a long-range triple to push an already massive Corban lead to thirty points at 45-15, as absolutely everything was clicking for the Navy and Gold while tragedy struck from every corner for Evergreen State. On the following possession, the Geoducks converted on a three-pointer to reach the 18-point mark, yet the Warriors held them scoreless for the remainder of the period to lead by nearly forty points in an incredible all-around performance for Corban men's basketball.
Evergreen State slowly chipped away at their massive deficit throughout the second half, yet the damage had already been done and despite leading by as many as 41 points with just under five minutes remaining, Coach Kelly and the Warriors settled for a 32-point home victory and fell just three points shy of the century mark in their long-awaited homecoming performance.
Corban senior guard Luc Krystkowiak needed just 15 minutes of game time to register a game-high 19 points on a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor, picking up three rebounds along the way. Younger brother and sophomore guard Ben Krystkowiak had a connection with Ben every minute they played during tonight's contest, as six of his season-high seven assists were dealt out to Luc in the paint and in transition offense.
However, it was the Warriors' bench who outperformed in every aspect of tonight's contest, led by a midrange performance that rose the Warrior Nation fans to their feet on every offensive possession from senior forward Devean Hinton. A second-year transfer from Lane Community College, Hinton was set up in isolation from the left half of the court on three-straight possessions during a back-and-forth scoring spree midway through the second half, where he posted up his defender and hit numerous fadeaway jumpers to eventually finish with 16 points for the most points scored in a single contest of his Corban career via 8-for-10 shooting while hauling in four rebounds and four assists along the way. Meyers added 14 points on 50% field goal shooting as well, with senior guard Drayton Caoile dropping another 13 points to represent the third head of Corban's three-headed monster off the bench against Evergreen State.
Geoduck guard Jourdan Joseph was one of the team's offensive highlights from tonight's contest, scoring a team-high 15 points along with dealing out three dimes and picking three pockets for a trio of steals. Guards Bradley Graham and Garret Long scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, to represent the final Evergreen State players to score in double-figures this evening.
Tomorrow night, the Warriors return to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center for a 5pm tipoff against Northwest University (2-14, 1-9) to conclude the opening half of conference play.
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