EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University men’s basketball team missed a chance to move into seventh place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference on Friday evening, falling to Corban University, 63-54. NCU could have moved into a tie with the Warriors but instead drop in to an eighth-place tie with The College of Idaho.
Corban, who led the game wire-to-wire, shot just 32.8% in the game compared to 43% shooting for NCU, but controlled the boards to the tune of a 49-27 rebounding advantage to pull out the victory. The Beacons also shot just 41.7% at the free-throw line while the Warriors shot 20-for-25 for 80%.
NCU Head Coach Corey Anderson said, “When we give up 20 offensive rebounds and shoot below 50% from the free throw line….we are not going to win. The game can be pretty simple. We played pretty good defense, we shoot a decent percentage and we have less turnovers than Corban, but we lose by 9 because we don’t box out and can’t shoot free throws. I feel bad because we had a great crowd here tonight and we don’t perform to the level that they expect from us.”
The Beacons (10-14, 3-9 CCC) were led by Senior Brian Hampton, the only NCU player in double-figures with eleven points. Brody McGowan added eight points and two blocks while Jordan Buhler scored seven points along with a team-high four rebounds. NCU collected seven blocked shots in the game including two each from McGowan, Tyler Fox, and Greg Shepard.
The Warriors (13-11, 5-7 CCC) were led by Jacob Kopra who posted a double-double with game highs of 15 points and 14 rebounds. Jordan Carter (pictured) added 14 points and eight boards and Cronrath scored 13 points, shooting 9-for-10 at the charity stripe. The team’s top two scorers, Carter and Cronrath were held to just 6-for-23 shooting combined, but missed just one free-throw attempt between them in the game.
Northwest Christian will be back in action next Friday as they play host to The College of Idaho in a battle for eighth place in the CCC. The Beacons currently hold the tie-breaker over the Yotes but can ill afford to fall a game behind them in the standings. Corban will be at home on Friday to host Eastern Oregon. Both games are set for 7:30 pm start times.