SALEM, Ore. – The Corban University Men’s Basketball team (1-0, 0-0) went down to the wire in an exhibition game with NCAA DII Western Oregon University (0-0, 0-0), with the Warriors taking one-possession victory to down their second NCAA university in as many contests, closing out the 76-73 win on Tim Hills Court earlier this afternoon.
“I loved the way our guys fought and stayed together today,” Warriors’ Head Coach Taylor Kelly said following his team’s exhibition victory. “Mateo and Dirk did a great job defending a really great player on Western’s side, while Masie and Taylor stuck some big shots for us down the stretch.”
Kelly went on to share, “WOU is a very good team, so it was a great test for us to see where we are at as we move into our official non-conference schedule. I’m looking forward to seeing our group grow and fulfilling our potential as a team.”
In a back-and-forth contest that featured 12 ties and 13 lead changes, the Warriors and Wolves battled for the entirety of tonight’s contest, with Western Oregon holding the pace of play a majority of the first half. Corban was able to stay within striking distance the first 20 minutes, and even took a brief lead before the end of the half.
The Warriors flipped the script on the Wolves in the second half, as Corban officially took the lead back with four minutes remaining and would refuse to give it back the remainder of the contest.
After a pair of free throws from junior guard Dirk Helaire II with under a minute remaining, an offensive rebound into a dunk and a breakaway layup from Wolves’ forward Elihu Cobb, put Western Oregon up by three-points going into the break.
Corban’ guards Taylor Anderson and Masie Mohammadi hit back-to-back three-pointers to push the momentum into the Warriors’ favor, and a late free-throw from Anderson provided a single possession lead that Corban was able to hold in the final four seconds of play.
The tale of the game was written in the turnover margin and at the three-point line, as Corban came out on top with a 17-13 advantage in turnovers, scoring 16 points off those Wolves’ miscues. The Warriors’ shot 32% from beyond the arc compared to Western Oregon’s 22.2%, giving Corban that extra distance in points that lead to their three-point victory.
Both Anderson and Mohammadi led the Warriors with 14 points apiece, while senior guard Mateo Eschiek and senior forward Darius Henderson added eight and seven points with six rebounds each, respectively.
Wolves’ forward Cameron Benzel achieved a double-double tonight, dropping game-highs in both points (15) and rebounds (11) to lead the charge for Western Oregon. Forward John Morrill-Keeler added 11 points and three rebounds for WOU, including going 7-for-8 from the stripe.
The Warriors will return to the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center for one final home non-conference game next Friday, November 11th, when they are set to host Westmont College at 7:30pm PST before departing on a two-week long road trip.
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