Cyrus Ward scored 34 points in the win over Evergreen. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
SALEM, Ore. – With senior forward Cyrus Ward (Gig Harbor, Wash.) leading the way in a 34-point performance, the Corban University men's basketball team used another big second half en route to a 97-86 triumph over The Evergreen State College Geoducks on Saturday night. The win gives Corban the season split with the Geoducks after losing to Evergreen about a month ago on the road.
"Tonight's game was very similar to our game last night," said Corban head coach Steve Masten. "We didn't defend the three well in the first half, but played much better defense in the second half."
In what seemed to be almost a carbon copy in many ways of Friday night's game against Northwest, the Warriors held the lead late in the first half, but a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Evergreen tied the contest at 46-46, sending the game into the halftime break tied. In that first half, Ward went 11-of-13 from the floor for 25 points for Corban.
In the second stanza, the Warriors slowly built a lead thanks to running jumpers from sophomore guard AJ Monterossi (Beaverton, Ore.) and some key minutes off the bench from junior forward Adam Moore (Stayton, Ore.), as Moore totaled 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting with eight rebounds in 19 minutes.
Some nice feeds down the stretch to Ward and freshman forward Joel Johnson (Tigard, Ore.) led to emphatic dunks late in the game, resulting in the 11-point triumph for the Warriors.
Johnson registered his third double-double of the year, racking up a career-best 14 boards with 11 points. Ward went 14-for-17 on the night with the 34 points and six boards. Monterossi finished with 27 points and a game-high seven assists with five rebounds. Additionally, sophomore guard Caleb Dozier (Beaverton, Ore.) chipped in nine points and eight boards in the win.
"Cyrus and AJ had tremendous games at the offensive end which was necessary since our three-pointers weren't dropping," said Masten. "Adam Moore gave us some great minutes off the bench and Joel Johnson is turning into a double-double machine."
For Evergreen, Taylor Drey scored a team-best 25 points, while Brock Otis tallied 17. The Geoducks shot 45.6% as a team, while the Warriors shot 61.4% overall as a squad.
Corban dominated on the boards, 42-27, and the Warriors won the points-in-the battle, 54-34.
The Warriors (14-10, 8-8 CCC) return to action next week when they travel to take on Warner Pacific College on the road on Friday at 7:30 p.m.