SALEM, Ore. – The last time The Evergreen State College secured a Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) victory against the Corban University Men's Basketball team was on the penultimate calendar day of 2018 in a narrow one-point road loss for the Warriors, yet the Geoducks were able to snap their eleven-game losing streak to the Navy and Gold tonight in a back-and-forth affair on Tim Hills Court, with Evergreen finally pulling away in the overtime period of a 104-96 final score. With tonight's victory, the Geoducks picked up their first win of the 2025-26 regular season and first CCC victory in nearly eleven months, while Corban suffered their first home loss to Evergreen in over fifteen seasons.
"The team performed well tonight against a very hungry and eager Evergreen team," Corban head coach Wayne Mendezona commented shortly after their home loss to the Geoducks. "The effort was a little bit down from the previous night's win against Northwest, and the accumulation of small mistakes in short periods of time cost us so much at the end. When you shoot such a low percentage from both the three-point and free-throw lines, you can't expect to compete in this league. But I do appreciate the players' efforts and how they're trying to represent Corban University and Jesus, and that's what matters most. We will absorb the pain of this loss and come back with a good week of practice to regroup and prepare for our set of home games coming up next weekend."
Making the most of their offensive opportunities was the difference in tonight's contest between the Warriors (6-8, 2-4) and Geoducks (1-7, 1-5), as Evergreen shot over 53% from the field, 38% from beyond the three-point arc, and 83% from the free throw line compared to 48%, 29%, and 44% for the Navy and Gold, respectively. Corban led in nearly every other statistical category, including an eight-point advantage in points scored off turnovers, which they had seven less of across the complete regulation and overtime periods.
With both programs going scratch through the opening 39 minutes and 56 seconds after the Geoducks squandered a 12-point lead in the second half, each would hold opportunities to secure a regulation win in the final four seconds of gameplay following graduate student guard Carter Knox's game-tying free throw. Corban and Evergreen would each toss their possessions out of bounds in less than a second of gameplay, with the Geoducks unable to get the final heave off in time and instead send them to an overtime period.
It was all Evergreen in extra time to provide the visiting squad with a massive road upset, as the Geoducks doubled up the Warriors in scoring 15-7 by hitting four of their six field goals and all six free throw attempts. Three-point shooting simultaneously boosted the Corban offense while becoming their Achilles' heel in overtime, hitting ten in the contest but going 1-for-6 over the final five minutes played.
The first Corban triple-double performance in nearly nine years was spoiled by the Geoducks' road efforts, as graduate student forward Oreon Courtney scored 16 points, hauled in 11 rebounds, and dished out ten assists in 37 minutes played, bringing down his clinching board with just over a minute remaining in the second half. He's the first Warrior since Joel Johnson to record a triple-double in a contest, which Johnson completed on January 12th, 2018 against Oregon Tech thanks to 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 blocks.
Courtney was complimented by a second-consecutive career-high scoring mark by redshirt junior center Tj Zimmermann, as the big man dropped 28 points to go alongside his six rebounds and six assists for a stat-stuffing night of his own. Additionally, senior guard Benett Bos recorded his Corban career-high scoring mark tonight with 18 points after splashing six of Corban's ten made field goals from deep.
Evergreen rode a career night from guard Tony Frohlich-Fair to secure their first win of the season, as the former Bushnell University student-athlete dropped a game-high 37 points with 12 rebounds and seven assists for a massive double-double performance. Guard Bradley Graham added 18 points, four boards, and four assists, while guard Gabriel Wiggington and Jacob Laff scored 12 points apiece. Wiggington fell two rebounds shy of his own double-double with eight tonight against the Navy and Gold.
The Warriors will look to get back to their winning ways next Friday back in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center when they're scheduled to host Walla Walla University (0-12, 0-6) for a midafternoon 2pm tipoff.
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