SALEM, Ore. – The 2025-26 home court debut for the Corban University Men's Basketball team was the dominant victory that first year head coach Wayne Mendezona was looking for out of his crew, as the Warriors steamrolled Northwest Indian College by nearly 40 points in a 103-65 blowout at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center. Thirteen different Navy and Gold student-athletes scored points in tonight's win, with five of them in double-digits.
"This was a great team win heading into our conference opener next week at home," began Mendezona when asked to discuss tonight's result. "I thought our defensive effort in the second half was tremendous and we were all connected really well together in terms of effort and heart out there. We need to continue to work to get better at our defensive execution throughout the entire possession, but we're making good strides and we're ready to see how it can all come together on Tuesday. Great all-around team win tonight!"
The Warriors (4-3) scored on the opening possession and never looked back in their drubbing of Northwest Indian (0-8), shooting nearly 63% from the floor across all fourteen student-athletes who saw playing time in an opportunity for Mendezona to flex his bench and allow younger players a chance to shine in front of their home crowd. With 58 seconds left in regulation, the Corban men's basketball team stretched their largest lead of the evening to 38 points and held NIC scoreless for the remaining two minutes of the contest.
Senior guard Payton Meyers was the first man off the bench tonight for Mendo and promptly dropped a team-best 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting, adding six rebounds and a pair of blocks along the way. Redshirt junior center Tj Zimmermann (15), graduate student forward Oreon Courtney (15), junior guard Joe Gould (12), and freshman guard Landon Knox (10), were the remaining Warriors in double-figure scoring, with Zimmermann having the most well rounded evening out of any Navy and Gold member with four rebounds, four assists, and two blocks as well.
Eagles' guard Tyasin Burns was the most productive scoring threat of the day for either program, as he scored a game-high 22 points with five boards, three assists, and three steals to lead Northwest Indian on the road. Guard Fred Lewis chipped in 14 points, while center Keenan Kahoekapu scored ten more.
The Warriors will return to Tim Hills Court this upcoming Tuesday for the debut of Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) action across the Pacific Northwest, as they'll host their I-5 rivals from Eugene, the Beacons of Bushnell University (3-4, 0-0), at 7:30pm with an early top spot in the conference standings on the line.
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