SALEM, Ore. – Despite attempting a handful of opportunities late in tonight's Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) to overcome a home deficit to the visiting Warriors of RV Lewis-Clark State College, the host Warriors of Corban University Men's Basketball couldn't find the equalizer and instead, suffered a narrow 71-68 loss.
"Our team fought extremely hard tonight against one of the top teams in our conference," expressed Corban head coach Wayne Mendezona earlier this evening. "We had a strong ten-point lead in the first half that we could've built on, but then we became our own worst enemy and let a ten-zero run against us put them back into this contest. A strong second half put us back in the game and even saw us take slight leads, but we just weren't able to get over the hump."
Mendezona continued with his analysis by stating, "Another major contribution from Tj, as I'm so proud of him for virtually putting the team on his back. We had other strong performers, but we had little help off the bench in which we were outscored by over twenty points. At the end of the day, out nemesis at the charity stripe came back to haunt us once again and ultimately cost us a victory. This has been a trend all year, but I believe in our guys to right the ship. I'm so proud of their overall effort and collective mindset for forty minutes the way they did. Unfortunately, the ball just didn't bounce our way at the end, but I couldn't be prouder of their commitment to the game plan and to each other. God is really molding these men into something very special for his kingdom!"
Only three bench points the entirety of tonight's contest for Corban (7-9, 3-5) resulted in an uphill battle despite playing consistent on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court, as LC State (12-4, 6-2) struggled to contain redshirt junior center Tj Zimmermann in the paint all night long. The big man concluded tonight's matchup with a career-high 31 points and 14 made field goals, adding eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals along the way, leading to a 44-30 edge over the visiting Warriors in points scored within the paint.
The Dubs methodically battled back time and time again to stay within striking distance, whittling the LC State lead down to just one possession with just under seven seconds remaining in regulation. A tipped ball out of bounds by the visiting Warriors resulted in a Corban possession from under their own basket down three points, yet a moving screen on their own inbound gave the ball right back to Lewis-Clark State.
However, once again, the swarming Navy and Gold defense forced a turnover that resulted in milliseconds coming off the clock, setting up yet another opportunity from their own offensive half. Freshman guard Landon Knox was able to launch a shot at the buzzer, yet only his second field goal attempt of the night clanged off the front of the rim to provide LC State with the narrow road victory.
Zimmermann's career-high represented one of three Corban student-athletes in double-digit scoring, as junior guard Joe Gould and redshirt senior guard Anjay Cortez pitched in 15 and 13 points, respectively. Between the remaining seven host Warriors to see floor time, just nine combined points overall resulted in the essential big night for Zimmermann.
A career-high from guard Dylan Skaife ultimately kept the receiving-votes Warrior squad from suffering a road loss to an unranked Corban program, as he scored a team-best 29 points and added seven rebounds along the way. The only other LC State student-athlete in double-figure scoring tonight was guard Brandon Suber who added 11 points off the bench on 5-for-9 shooting.
The Navy and Gold will have an opportunity to avenge one of their recent losses next Friday in La Grande, as Eastern Oregon University (12-4, 7-1) will host Corban for their second of three total matchups this season at 7:30pm in Quinn Coliseum.
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