Victory Snatched from Corban Despite Effort by Douglas
SALEM, Ore. – Despite a game-high 26 points from junior Wade Douglas (Ontario, Ore.) on 9-for-11 shooting from the field, Corban's men's basketball team had victory snatched from its hands in the final seconds as Eastern Oregon walked away from the Capitol City with a 70-68 win on Friday night.
Despite numerous lead changes, a mere three ties, and a double-digit lead (55-42) for Corban deep into the second half, the entire night's picture was painted in the game's final ten seconds.
With Corban clinging to a slim two-point lead (68-66) and Eastern Oregon attempting to either tie or take the lead, the Mountaineers' Dan Blanchard connected on a jumper from the free throw line extended as Corban's Douglas was called for a foul underneath the basket fighting for rebounding position. With the Warriors already over the foul limit, EOU's Kyle Janke was awarded a one-and-one opportunity with a mere 4.4 seconds on the clock. Having missed his last two free throws, Janke calmly stepped to the charity stripe and knocked down both shots giving the Mountaineers a slim lead (70-68). Sixth-year head coach Justin Sherwood called his final timeout and instructed the Warriors what to do on the ensuing in-bounds play. Senior Hannes Gehring (Lake Oswego, Ore.) got the ball and dribbled the length of the court with EOU's Mark Carollo guarding him the entire way. As the clock got closer and closer to triple zeros, Gehring unleashed a three-point attempt with Carollo hanging all over him only to have no foul called therefore handing the NAIA's No. 10-ranked Eastern Oregon squad a nail-biting and hard-fought two-point victory.
As has been the trend for the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon all season, EOU allowed its opponent to grab what-seemed to be an insurmountable lead before using a 28-13 run over the game's final eight-plus