EOU's Trent Roos returned to his hometown for the final time of his career and scored a team-high tying 15 points Saturday in helping lead the Mountaineers past Corban.
No. 2 Eastern Oregon Cruises Past Corban Behind 12 Three-Pointers
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – For the second straight night, No. 2-ranked Eastern Oregon knocked down more than 10 shots from long distance en route to earning a 78-66 victory Saturday over Corban inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
As a team, Eastern Oregon was a combined 28-for-58 (48.3%) from the field, 12-for-26 (46.2%) from long distance, and 10-of-13 (76.9%) at the charity stripe. On the other hand, Corban combined to shoot 25-for-53 (47.2%) from the field that included an 8-for-19 (42.1%) showing from beyond the three-point line and an 8-for-12 (66.7%) performance at the free throw line.
Eastern Oregon would have four players in double figures led by Jason Mumm and Salem-native Trent Roos with 15 points each, while Anthony Brown and Thurmond added 12 and 10 points, respectively. On the boards, Mumm grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go along with a team-best five assists by Michael Crane.
Corban's Andrew Evans would score a career and game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field that included a 5-for-9 clip from three-point range. No other Warrior scored in double figures with Marcus Butler adding nine points to go along with an eight-point, game-high eight-rebound effort by Cyrus Ward. Dustin Moore and Josiah Sebens also scored eight points each, while Geoffrey Martin and Kent Foster rounded out the scoring for Corban with four points apiece. On the boards, Ward was aided by a trio of Warriors – Butler, Moore, and Sebens – with four rebounds each to go along with a game-high six assists by Evans.
With the score tied at 4-4 with 17:39 on the clock, Eastern Oregon scored 11 unanswered points en route to building a 15-point cushion (11-4) on a lay-in by Cody Thurmond at the 12:50 mark. The visiting Mountaineers would slowly build their lead to as much as 18 points (37-19) before Corban used a closing 12-4 run that included nine points from Evans over the final four-plus minutes bringing the Warriors within 10 points (41-31) at halftime.
The second half would begin with Corban using a 16-7 run over the opening seven-plus minutes to pull within one point (48-47) on a pair of free throws by Butler with 12:48 on the clock. Unfortunately that would be as close as the Warriors would get, as Eastern Oregon quickly scored six unanswered points in a two-plus minute stretch to increase its lead to seven points (54-47) on another lay-in by Thurmond with just over ten minutes left. Another run by Corban would pull the Warriors within a single basket (60-58), as Sebens executed an old-fashion three-point play via a lay-in and free throws with 6:24 remaining. Over the next three-plus minutes, Eastern Oregon would knock down a pair of lay-in and two three-pointers en route to building an eight-point lead (70-62) that would stretch to 13 points (76-63) thanks to the Mountaineers free throw shooting in the final two minutes that included a perfect 6-for-6 to end the game en route to earning the 12-point victory (78-66).
With tonight's result, Corban falls to 6-9 overall and 2-5 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon improves to 19-1 on the season and 7-1 in league games.
On Friday, January 11th, each team will return to the hardwood with the I-84 Cup game between Eastern Oregon and The College of Idaho in Caldwell and Corban going toe-to-toe with the NAIA's No. 14-ranked Knights of Warner Pacific in Portland. Both games are scheduled to begin at approximately 7:30 p.m.