Jeremiah Harris tallied a pair of timely steals and crucial buckets in Corban's upset win over No. 13 Northwest. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
SALEM, Ore. – In what was Corban's best overall defensive performance of the 2016-17 campaign, the Warrior men's basketball team held the No. 13-ranked Northwest University Eagles to just a 32.4% shooting effort en route to dominating the Eagles on a snowy day in Salem, 78-55.
"I am very proud of the defensive effort we put forth tonight for a full 40 minutes," said Corban head coach Austin Johnson. "We had some very good defensive performances that were strengthened by our team defense and team rebounding."
After having Saturday's game time moved up due to the snowy and icy weather in Salem, Northwest started out the better of the two squads, hitting a number of tough early shots, forcing Corban to call a timeout. After some adjustments were made, the Warriors roared back and then locked down defensively for the remainder of the first half.
Towards the end of the first 20 minutes of action, Caleb Herzberg caught fire for the Warriors, draining three-consecutive three-pointers, and then Jake Love added another shot from deep en route to giving Corban a 39-31 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, the Warriors ramped up their defense even more, forcing the Eagles into a number of difficult shots, ultimately proving to hold Northwest to a 28.6% shooting mark in the second half. Offensively, the Warriors remained consistent, equaling their first-half total en route to blowing out the No. 13 team in the NAIA by 23 points.
The Warriors shot just 38.5% for the game as a team, but did nail eight long-range shots while holding Northwest to just a pair of three-pointers and a 32.4% shooting effort on the night. Corban also crashed the glass all night long, totaling 54 rebounds to just 31 for the Eagles.
Individually, it was AJ Monterossi who finished with a team-best 14 points, while Joel Johnson proved to be dominant in the paint, scoring 12 points while grabbing a game-high 12 boards. Additionally, Chris Martin and Caleb Herzberg both finished in double-digits for the Navy and Gold, as Martin tallied 13 points while Herzberg finished with 10 points.
Another big performance for Corban came from Jeremiah Harris, as while only scoring seven points, he notched five big boards to go with a couple of timely steals and a thunderous dunk, helping lead the Warriors to the big upset win.
"This was a good weekend as we took a step forward as a team in many facets," said Johnson. "I am happy for our guys as they dug in both games and trusted each other."
For Northwest (13-4, 5-4 CCC), it was Justice Martion who totaled a team-best 14 points, while Dak Sagren tallied nine points.
Corban (11-7, 4-4 CCC) returns to the hardwood next week on the road at Multnomah University on Friday and Warner Pacific College on Saturday. Tipoffs are set for 7:30 p.m. both days.