MONMOUTH, Ore. – In a very entertaining game that featured 13 ties and six lead changes, Corban was able to break the final tie of the night when Jordan Newt hit a top-of-the-key three-pointer with time ticking down to give the Warriors the 80-77 win over the Western Oregon University men's basketball team on Saturday night inside New PE Gym.
Leading up to the final few minutes of the game, WOU (3-7) took a three-point lead at 71-68 off of two free throws by Daisone Hughes.
Corban (9-7) answered with a jumper and a transition dunk to move ahead 72-71 with just under four minutes to play. From that point on, WOU was only able to tie Corban with the teams tying three times down the stretch before the Warriors picked up the late game-winner.
John Morrill-Keeler tied the game at 72 with a free throw and Corban answered with a three by Mateo Escheik. A big steal by Tyreek Price later led to a triple by Price to tie the game again at 75 with 2:40 to play. A Corban layup had the lead back to 77-75 and then a jumper by Yosani Clay in transition evened the score again at 77 with 18 seconds to play.
That's when the Warriors brought the ball up the floor and Newt called his own number hitting the three with just 0.5 seconds left. The Wolves tried to get a shot up from half court, but the shot missed sending Corban to the win.
Early on, Corban moved out to their largest lead of the game at 18-10 just over five minutes in. WOU came right back with a 7-0 run as Cameron Cranston hit a jumper, Qiant Myers hit two from the line and Cranston stepped back for a triple to close the run. The Wolves tied the game at 20 on a three by Collin Warmouth and then took their first lead at 22-20 on a jumper by Warmouth.
Warmouth continued his big first half sinking another three-pointer and then a jumper by Price had the WOU lead out to five at 27-22 just under the midway point of the first half.
Corban came back with an 8-0 run to move in front 30-27. The Warriors had the lead out to five a couple of times over the final few minutes to take a 49-44 lead into halftime.
The Warriors pushed the lead out to seven early on in the second half before WOU used a 6-0 run to get right back into it. Clay drilled a three-pointer and then Hughes accounted for three straight points to leave Corban with a 55-54 lead at the 16:03 mark.
WOU moved back in front at 61-60 after Hughes hit a jumper and Morrill-Keeler added a free throw. The Wolves had a couple of small leads at 64-61 on a free throw by Elihu Cobb and then at 66-64 on a dunk by Cobb that helped setup the exciting finish of the game.
Morrill-Keeler had a big game for the Wolves with 17 points and seven rebounds, along with three assists and a block. He went 7-10 from the field. Cranston again played all 40 minutes, tallying 13 points on 6-7 shooting, while adding five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Hughes and Warmouth each reached double-figures with 12 points. Hughes went 3-3 from the field and added six free throws, five assists and a steal. Warmouth went 4-6 from the field and had a rebound and a steal. Price with eight points and Clay with seven points were close to double-figures.
WOU shot a sizzling 28-45 (62.2) from the field and went 7-17 (41.2) from three, but struggled at the foul line making 14-26 (53.8).
Escheik led Corban with 17 points, while Newt added 15 points and Taylor Anderson with 14 points. The Warriors went 32-61 (52.5) from the field, 9-17 (52.9) from three and 7-10 (70) at the foul line.
WOU held the edge in bench points (20-19), while Corban had the advantage in points off turnovers (22-14), points in the paint (42-34) and fastbreak points (11-8).
The Wolves will now be off until New Year's Day when they will face Saint Martin's on the road in Lacey to resume GNAC play starting at 3 p.m.
