OLYMPIA, Wash. – It took every single second of regulation to clinch the weekend sweep in western Washington, but nonetheless, the Corban University Men's Basketball team improved to 12-8 in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) action and moved to fifth overall in the conference standings thanks to a trio of last second free throws to earn a 72-70 road victory against The Evergreen State College. The victory puts the Warriors in a two-way tie for fifth overall with Multnomah heading into the final weekend of conference contests, which Corban holds the tiebreaker via a season sweep of the Lions.
"It was an absolute war tonight, as Evergreen State played awesome all game long," Warriors' head coach Taylor Kelly shared shortly after their matchup with the Geoducks. "They had a great gameplan heading into tonight and executed it well. We were a few men down, but we had some guys really step up. Preston played unbelievable tonight, RJ was sensational for us, and it feels like Ben has found his shooting touch. We needed everyone this weekend, and we will continue to need everyone as we come down the home stretch."
Despite the Warriors' (14-12, 12-8) best efforts throughout the opening ten minutes of regulation where they built their largest lead of the game at 12 points, the Geoducks (2-21, 2-18) battled back to pull within three at the halftime horn and would eventually claim multiple lead changes throughout the second half.
Every time the Navy and Gold secured even the slightest bit of momentum, Evergreen State punched right back with a run of their own and with 6:20 remaining, held a five-point advantage on the scoreboard. However, the leadership of senior guard RJ Veliz and sophomore guard Ben Krystkowiak allowed Corban to immediately retake the lead, as the duo combined for a pair of layups and three-pointers to lead by three points at the four-minute mark.
The two conference foes went shot-for-shot down the stretch and were locked in a 68-all tie before Veliz was fouled on a jumper, sending him to the free throw line where he connected on 1-of-2 for a narrow one-point lead. On the next Geoduck possession, guard Zach Jefferson splashed a jumper to put the hometown team ahead, yet they left 15 seconds on the clock for Coach Kelly and the Warriors to work with on their own offensive end of the court.
After the first play they drew up was knocked out of bounds with seven seconds left, Velize drove to the hoop and dished to senior guard Drayton Caoile on the wing for a game-winning three-pointer attempt, where he was fouled in the act of shooting with 0.5 seconds remaining and give himself a chance to win the game at the free throw line. Caoile's first and only free throw attempts of the night all found paydirt to allow the Warriors to escape the upset win on Evergreen State's Senior Night and walk out of Olympia with their eleventh-straight victory over the Geoducks.
Veliz finished his night with a team-best 17 points offensively while snagging five rebounds and dishing out a team-high five assists for the Navy and Gold. Krystkowiak was 4-for-9 from distance to secure 14 points and a pair of steals, while redshirt freshman guard Preston Sherburne racked up a career-high 12 points and four boards. Caoile scored his eighth, ninth, and tenth points on his game-winning free throw attempts.
Evergreen State forward Solomon Campbell had a highly efficient night of offense with a game-high 18 points and five rebounds, while guard Jourdan Joseph clinched a double-double outing of 17 points and ten assists. Jefferson played 27 minutes off the bench and scored 16 points and brought down five rebounds off the weakside glass.
The Navy and Gold will return to their home court this upcoming weekend for their regular season weekend finale in CCC play, as (RV) Lewis-Clark State College (20-6, 15-5) will visit Friday afternoon at 2pm for a massive conference clash.
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