|
Victory snatched from Warriors despite Douglas' effort
January 18, 2008
 |
Junior Wade Douglas tallied his third straight 20-plus point performance and pushed his season average from 19.1 to 19.7 points per game in the process. (Photo courtesy of Nisha Strauch, Corban Sports Info. photographer) |
SALEM, Ore. – Despite a game-high 26 points from junior Wade Douglas (Ontario, Ore.) on 9-for-11 shooting from the field, Corban's men's basketball team had victory snatched from its hands in the final seconds as Eastern Oregon walked away from the Capitol City with a 70-68 win on Friday night.
Despite numerous lead changes, a mere three ties, and a double-digit lead (55-42) for Corban deep into the second half, the entire night's picture was painted in the game's final ten seconds.
With Corban clinging to a slim two-point lead (68-66) and Eastern Oregon attempting to either tie or take the lead, the Mountaineers' Dan Blanchard connected on a jumper from the free throw line extended as Corban's Douglas was called for a foul underneath the basket fighting for rebounding position. With the Warriors already over the foul limit, EOU's Kyle Janke was awarded a one-and-one opportunity with a mere 4.4 seconds on the clock. Having missed his last two free throws, Janke calmly stepped to the charity stripe and knocked down both shots giving the Mountaineers a slim lead (70-68). Sixth-year head coach Justin Sherwood called his final timeout and instructed the Warriors what to do on the ensuing in-bounds play. Senior Hannes Gehring (Lake Oswego, Ore.) got the ball and dribbled the length of the court with EOU's Mark Carollo guarding him the entire way. As the clock got closer and closer to triple zeros, Gehring unleashed a three-point attempt with Carollo hanging all over him only to have no foul called therefore handing the NAIA's No. 10-ranked Eastern Oregon squad a nail-biting and hard-fought two-point victory.
As has been the trend for the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon all season, EOU allowed its opponent to grab what-seemed to be an insurmountable lead before using a 28-13 run over the game's final eight-plus minutes to secure its eighth conference victory of the season.
For Corban, tonight's game was its first against a nationally-ranked NAIA opponent that showed a lot of heart in this season's Warrior squad and will be used as a building tool for the remainder of the season.
Along with Douglas, fellow junior Kyle Masten (Salem, Ore.) was the only other Warrior to score in double figures as the 6-foot guard tallied 12 points and a game-high five assists. Sophomore Paul Martin (Beaverton, Ore.) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while Gehring, junior Jason Braun (Dallas, Ore.), and freshman Clay Martin (Beaverton, Ore.) tallied 5, 4, and 4 boards respectively.
For Eastern Oregon, Carollo tallied a team-high 21 points on 6-for-22 shooting from the field while Jeremy Templeton and Nick Finley added 12 and 10 points respectively. Carollo also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with Paul Carollo's nine and a trio of Mountaineers' six boards.
As a team, Corban shot 23-for-51 (45.1%) from the field including 3-for-15 (20.0%) from beyond the arc and 19-for-26 (73.1%) from the free throw line. On the other hand, Eastern Oregon turned in a 26-for-71 (36.6%) performance from the field that including a 3-for-26 (11.5%) showing from three-point land and a 15-for-20 (75.0%) showing from the charity stripe.
With the loss, Corban falls to 7-12 overall, 2-7 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon improves to 15-2 overall, 8-1 in CCC action. The Warriors will hit the hardwood again on Saturday, January 19th, when Corban host the nationally-ranked 'Yotes of The College of Idaho beginning at 7:30 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
NOTE: Tomorrow night's contest will be taped by Capital Community Television and replayed throughout the next week, as the viewing schedule will be released on Monday, January 21st.
|
