SALEM, Ore. – Facing off with a familiar foe in a midweek matchup, the Corban University men's basketball team rolled to an 80-52 triumph in the squad's non-conference bout with Warner Pacific University on Tuesday evening.
"Tonight was a great win for our program," said head coach Taylor Kelly. "Coming off a loss, we wanted to protect home court and correct some mistakes we made in the previous game. I thought we had great contributions from everyone on our team, and we are looking forward to a big conference homestand this weekend. Go Warriors!"
The Warriors were in control from the onset, as Drew Magaoay's game-opening basket was the only time the Knights possessed a lead in the contest. Corban scored the next 11 points of the battle, taking a commanding early advantage and not looking back, leading by a decisive 38-21 margin at the midway point.
Warner Pacific struggled to sink shots early on, going just 1-of-12 (8.3%) from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes. The squad finished the game 4-of-23 (17.4%) from three.
Corban would continue its success in the second half, shooting 42.9% from the floor as a team and sinking 4-of-7 attempts from range in the second period.
It was a total team effort for the squad, with 13 players seeing minutes in the triumph, and 11 players registering at least one point.
Mauricio Smith's 15 points and five boards led the charge for the Navy and Gold, while Denis Kirichenko (11 points, nine rebounds) finished just one rebound shy of a double-double.
A testament to the squad's depth, 38 of Corban's points came from the reserves, spearheaded by Kirichenko and Josiah Roth (eight points, nine rebounds).
For the Knights, Magaoay ended with a game-high 20 points, while WPU's Christian Hodge topped all performers with 14 rebounds.
Corban (6-2, 3-1 CCC) will return to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center on Friday and Saturday, hosting Interstate-5 rival Bushnell University for a two-game set. Friday's contest is slated to tip-off at 8:30 p.m., while Saturday's series finale will get underway at 7:30 p.m.