SALEM, Ore. – A dominant 54-24 advantage in points scored within the paint tonight by the Corban University Men's Basketball team allowed the Navy and Gold to overcome a quiet three-point shooting effort against the Northwest University Eagles, snapping a three-game losing skid to kick off the 2026 calendar year with an 85-69 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) victory.
"Our guys played with incredible intensity tonight, and this was our best all-around performance of the year," Corban head coach Wayne Mendezona explained. "We had tremendous efforts from so many players that it's hard to single out any one or two guys. But I thought Tj's inside dominance along with Joe's ability to penetrate and put pressure on the interior made a huge difference. We also had great contributors off the bench and it was altogether a team win. We need to carry this momentum into the next game tomorrow against Evergreen."
The Warriors (6-7, 2-3) picked up a much-needed victory tonight on Tim Hills Court behind one of their most commanding contests within the key, as they nearly doubled up the Eagles (3-10, 0-5) in rebounding (45-27) to score thirty more points below the bucket and a 14-2 advantage in second chance points scored. Northwest kept pace with Corban early in the first half, but the hometown squad ended the opening period on an 18-10 scoring run to lead by eight at the halftime break.
An intense full-court press enacted by the Warriors' coaching staff to start the second half resulted in multiple turnovers forced and a 6-0 scoring run to stretch their lead into double-digits, which the Eagles could never cut to less than three possessions the remainder of their first scheduled regular season matchup of the year. While NU was able to find more success from their bench than the Navy and Gold (27 vs 18 bench points), shooting just 38% from the field wasn't enough to upend Corban on their home court.
Redshirt junior center Tj Zimmermann scored a Warrior career-high 23 points in 35 minutes played, as he hit 11 of his 17 shot attempts to lead all scorers. Junior guard Joe Gould tacked on another 17 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double with nine, while freshman guard Landon Knox added 11 points and graduate student forward Oreon Courtney secured ten points and four boards.
Both Northwest guard Trent Williams and forward Logan Stempniak scored 16 points as the only NU scorers in double-figures, combining for 15 of the Eagles' 27 rebounds in 34 minutes played apiece.
The Dubs will look to return to .500 on the season tomorrow evening at 5pm, as they're set to host The Evergreen State College (0-7, 0-5) at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
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