Corban cruised to a 22-point win on Friday vs. Evergreen. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University men's basketball team never trailed in Friday night's victory over The Evergreen State College, defeating the Geoducks by a final margin of 75-53. The Warriors have now won five of their last seven, pushing their Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) win percentage to .500 for the first time in 2018-19.
"This was a very good team win," stated head coach Mitch Freeman. "We had five guys score in double figures and two of those guys came off the bench. We were also able to take better care of the ball, which allowed us to get better shots."
The Navy and Gold shot 50% from the floor in the first half, and drained 4-of-10 three-pointers. The Warriors also dominated under the rim in the first 20 minutes, outscoring the Geoducks 20-8 in the paint, highlighted by a pair of brazen two-hand slams from Dalton Patchen.
After taking a 42-27 lead into the locker room, Corban cruised in the latter half. The Warriors' dominance down low proved to be a key difference-maker, with the Navy and Gold bigs—Joel Johnson, Beau Roggenbach, Dalton Patchen, Denis Kirichenko, and Beau Tilleman—combining for 51 of the team's 75 points.
Johnson delivered a prototypical performance in the victory, notching a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Warrior guard AJ Hodges was the lone guard in double figures, ending the night with 11 points out of the backcourt.
Evergreen (5-15, 1-11 CCC) was led by Elijah Fuller, who went 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from downtown en route to 17 points. Fuller was the lone Geoduck to finish in double figures, however, with the Corban defense doing an impressive job of shutting down Evergreen's playmakers.
"We did an exceptional job defensively," Freeman said about his defense. "We created a few turnovers and held them to a 35.8% field goal percentage. We need to continue to have a strong effort defensively night in and night out as we finish out league play."
For the Warriors, tonight's victory helps wash the taste out of the squad's mouth after dropping a one-point heartbreaker on the road against Evergreen earlier this year.
Corban (15-7, 6-6 CCC) will take the court again tomorrow night to cap off the weekend doubleheader with a 7:30 p.m. matchup against Northwest.