NU's Greg George scores 20 points and grabs 10 rebounds.
Northwest Comes Back to Defeat Corban
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest University came back from a 9 point halftime deficit to defeat Corban, 76-73, in a hard fought conference game tonight.
With Northwest holding on to a slim 17-16 lead at the 11:18 mark of the first half, Corban would take the lead, 26-17, on a 10-0 run including 3-pointers by Jake Mauermann and Jordan Graneto. NU’s Rich Skillman would end the NU scoring drought with his layup with 7:34 left in the half, but a Potloff jumper and a layup by Brelin Powell would give the Warriors an 11 point lead, 30-19 with 6:22 on the clock. Northwest would then go on a 9-2 run of their own punctuated by a Greg Peters dunk to pull to within four, 32-28, with two minutes to go until the half. Corban’s Potloff would get to the basket again and two free throws by Erik Cronrath and a jumper by Nash Keene would make it 38-29 at halftime.
Northwest would come out of the locker room fast and go on a 9-2 run to start the half and pull to within two points, 40-38, capped off by a three point play by the Eagles’ Blake Solomon. Corban would pull away again and take a 46-40 lead at the 13:34 mark on two Jake Mauermann free throws. Back would come NU and they would get within one point, 50-49 as Greg Peters would sink one of two free throws with 10:34 remaining in the contest. Once again Corban would answer, and lead 57-53 (7:32) and increase their lead to seven, 61-54, with 6:17 to go. But Northwest would not be denied and would battle back to tie the game at 63-63 with a 9-2 run as Tyson Christie banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Stedman Richardson dropped in two free throws after being fouled on a rebound. The teams would trade baskets the next two possessions and Erik Cronrath would tie the game (68-68) with his 3-point play with 1:45 left in the game. NU’s Blake Solomon would put the Eagles back into the lead, 71-68 with his 3-pointer from the left side as he was fouled and but missed the chance at the 4-point play as his free throw came off the rim with 41 seconds on the clock. Northwest would go 5 for 9 from the free throw line the remainder of the way and give Corban a final shot to tie the game, but Jordan Graneto’s 3-point attempt rimmed off to end the game, 76-73, in favor of Northwest.
Junior Greg George (Seattle, Wash.) led Northwest U. (11-9, 6-4 CCC) with 20 points and 10 rebounds to record his fifth double-double of the season. Senior Blake Solomon (Kent, Wash.) added 18 points, and junior Stedman Richardson (Federal Way, Wash.) contributed 12 points and handed out 4 assists. Junior Greg Peters (Belmont, St. Vincent) dropped in 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
Ben Potloff led Corban (6-15, 1-9 CCC) with 26 points and teammate Erik Cronrath added 19 points and 7 rebounds for the Warriors. Nash Keene scored 12 points. Corban out rebounded NU, 37-35.
Both teams resume CCC play Saturday night as Northwest U. hosts Northwest Christian in Kirkland and Corban travels to Olympia to take on the Evergreen State College. Game time for both games is slated for 7:30 p.m.