Jourdan Sweeney scored a team-high 16 points for the Cavaliers against Corban on Saturday night.
Late Run Carries Cavs Past Corban
SALEM, Ore. – Down by five with two minutes left to play, Concordia scored the final 12 points to stun Corban College 87-80 in Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s basketball action Saturday night inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
With the win, Concordia snapped a two-game skid to improve to 12-5 overall and 3-4 in the CCC while Corban dropped to 6-12 overall and 1-6 in league contests.
Previewing what would happen in the second half, Concordia reeled off an 18-point run in the first after trailing the Warrior 29-22. Corban took the seven-point lead with early help from Erik Cronrath and Ben Potloff, but saw the advantage disappear with the Cavalier streak which was highlighted by eight points, including two three-pointers, by Sergio Rosario.
Corban clawed back in the final moments of the first, cutting it to a three-point game on a Nash Keene trey in the closing seconds of the period to go into the locker room down 42-39.
The second half turned into a back-and-forth affair as neither team could produce separation over the first 14 minutes. Deonte Johnson and Keene would spark a small Warrior push as the duo scored in consecutive possessions to give the home side a 68-61 lead with seven minutes to play.
Johnson would return with a pair of free throw conversions with 2:19 showing on the clock to keep the Warriors up by five with the score 80-75, but the gap would quickly be reversed as the Cavs closed the game with the final 12 points, six of which came from senior Alex Tiefenthaler and four via Drew Preuninger from the free throw line, to claim the victory.
Jourdan Sweeney led five Cavaliers in double figures with 16 points. Tiefenthaler and Preuninger each had 12 while Rosario and Gage Aker finished with 11 points each. All ten players that recorded court time scored at least three points for the Cavs.
The Corban trio of Keene, Potloff and Cronrath combined to score 68 of the teams 75 points with Potloff leading the way with 24 after shooting 9 of 19 from the floor. Cronrath was a perfect 9 of 9 from the field and added a 5 of 7 night at the free throw line for the game-high sum.
Concordia edged Corban in overall shooting percentage, 47.6 percent to 43.8 percent while Corban got a slight benefit from beyond the arc, hitting 8 of 20 for 40 percent to 7 of 21 for 33.3 percent for the Cavs.
The Cavs dominated on the boards, outrebounding the home team 42-29. Both teams took care of the ball as the Warriors committed just eight turnovers compared to a dozen miscues for CU.
Concordia returns to action on Jan. 15 when it hosts Evergreen State while Corban will travel to face The College of Idaho. Both matches are set to begin at 7:30 p.m.