SALEM, Ore. – The first season for the Corban University Men's Basketball program under the direction of newly appointed head coach Wayne Mendezona has been released and features a handful of hard-hitting opponents from start to finish, with the Warriors traveling to battle nationally ranked opponents to open their season and will once again endure the incredibly difficult slate that the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) provides on an annual basis.
To view the complete 2025-26 Warrior men's basketball schedule, click HERE.
"We open our season on the road against two of the nation's top-ranked teams, and three true road weekends will test our resolve early," Coach Mendo detailed regarding his first schedule as the program's head coach. "Together with one of the strongest conferences in the NAIA, this schedule isn't a challenge, but rather an opportunity to prove we're built for this level of competition!"
With one scrimmage already in the books that took place earlier this month, the Warriors will host their final tomorrow night on Tim Hills Court against Clackamas Community College at 5pm, marking the final appearance for the program on Corban's campus before a grueling six-game road trip to start the 2025-26 regular season.
Coach Mendo and the Warriors will first travel to the Arizona heat with a pair of top ten teams awaiting in the desert, as No. 2-ranked Arizona Christian University is set to host the 2025 Fultz Memorial Classic featuring a pair of nationally ranked Great Southwest Athletic Conference programs in addition to Corban and fellow CCC member Oregon Tech. The Navy and Gold will start the regular season with ACU on Friday, November 7th, followed by a neutral site matchup with No. 9-ranked The Master's University on the 8th.
The following weekend, the Mustangs and Warriors will meet once again for back-to-back contests, this time on TMU's home court at 7pm on November 14th. Before returning to Oregon, Corban will visit Life Pacific University for the first ever matchup between the NAIA members.
Their six-game road trip comes to a close on November 22nd at the Simpson Classic, hosted by Simpson University at the James M. Grant Center. The day prior, the Warriors will battle against California State University-Maritime before the tourney host Red Hawks mark the final road game before Corban's long-awaited return to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
Following a short Thanksgiving break, the Navy and Gold will host their official home opener on Saturday, November 29th at 6pm when they welcome Northwest Indian College to Tim Hills Court. Three days later, CCC action kicks off for the Warriors atop their campus against their I-5 rivals in Bushnell University, with a 7:30pm tipoff scheduled.
A brief Thursday night pitstop in Portland against Warner Pacific University on December 4th will be the final contest for over a week on Corban's calendar, before they return to action on Friday, December 12th in a rare non-conference matchup with fellow CCC member Eastern Oregon University on Tim Hills Court. Road matchups at Southern Oregon University and Oregon Tech will conclude the 2025 calendar year for the Navy and Gold.
2026 will begin the exact opposite of how the Warriors' season started, with four-consecutive home matchups from January 2nd to 10th featuring Northwest University, The Evergreen State College, Walla Walla University, and Lewis-Clark State College will provide Warrior Nation with plenty of opportunities to see their team in action following the New Year celebrations.
The final two games of the first half of CCC action will take place on the road on January 16th/17th against the Mountaineers and defending national champion Yotes of The College of Idaho, with second half play beginning at Bushnell on January 20th. The final home game of January is on the 24th when Warner Pac visits the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
After a brief trip to western Washington to face off against the Geoducks and Eagles, yet another four-game homestand will represent how the Navy and Gold will begin February, as the Hustlin' Owls, Raiders, Yotes, and Mounties all travel to the Mid-Willamette Valley. Their February 14th matchup with EOU will also double as the team's Senior Day contest, where the team will honor their senior student-athletes competing in their final home game.
The 2025-26 regular season concludes with a multi-state road trip for Corban men's basketball, where they will first travel to LC State in Lewiston, Idaho before their final matchup of the year with the Wolves in College Place, Washington.
Should the Warriors earn a top-eight finish in the conference standings by season's end, they'll earn a spot in the 2026 CCC Tournament and will either host or travel for the opening quarterfinal stage depending on their exact seeding. The quarterfinal matchups will take place on campus sites on February 25th, with the semifinals to follow on the 28th and finally, the championship game on March 3rd and all start times already predetermined for 7pm local time.
On March 13th and 14th, every automatic qualifying and at-large berth program across the country will participate in the First and Second Rounds of the 2026 NAIA National Tournament, vying for one of the limited spots in the final site at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri, which begins on March 19th and concludes with a Red Banner presentation on the 24th.
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