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Masten nets game-high 21 in OT loss to D-II Wolves
December 5, 2006
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Sophomore Jason Braun got the crowd to its feet on two occasions with dunks, such as this one that pulled Corban within a mere point at 83-82 only to have the Warriors fall in an overtime heart-breaker to Western Oregon tonight. (Photo courtesy of Charissa Bernard) |
SALEM, Ore. -
Sophomore Kyle Masten (Salem, Ore.) scored a career and game-high 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, but Corban's men's basketball team could not pull off the upset thanks to a 97-96 defeat in overtime to NCAA D-II member Western Oregon on Tuesday.
In the opening half, the visiting Wolves of Western Oregon grabbed a 7-point lead (19-12) with 13:12 remaining. Over the final 13-plus minutes, Corban used a 30-22 run that resulted in a 1-point lead (42-41) at intermission. Following back-to-back 3-pointers by Masten and junior Hannes Gehring (Lake Oswego, Ore.) in the closing two minutes of the first half, WOU's Alex Swerzbin scored via a lay-up with three seconds remaining to cut the Warriors' lead to a mere point.
At the beginning of the second half, Corban pushed its lead to three (44-41) in the first 15 seconds, as senior Nate Morris (Dufur, Ore.) executed a perfect defensive switch that resulted in a steal and a fast-break lay-in. After pushing the lead to four (47-43) thanks to a 3-point play by sophomore Jason Braun (Dallas, Ore.), Western Oregon climbed back to tie the game for the fourth time at 47-all with 18:11 on the clock. Following a shot from downtown by WOU's Dominque DeWeese, the score was knotted for the fifth time at 52-all before the visiting Wolves used a 12-0 run over a span of 2:35 that gave them what seemed to be an insurmountable lead at 64-52. With a never-say-die attitude, Corban began to whittle away at WOU's lead and eventually tied the game at 85-85 when Masten hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds to go right in front of Western Oregon's cheering section. After Corban forced a loose ball in Western Oregon's end, WOU's Larry Hall picked it up and attempted a last-second shot from beyond the arc only to have it carom off the back of the rim, therefore forcing overtime.
In the extra period, Corban pushed its lead to four (91-87) in the opening two minutes following a 3-pointer by sophomore Garrett Kauffman (Sweet Home, Ore.) and a 3-point play by senior Kevin Van Hook (Silverdale, Wash.). With 1:34 remaining, Braun handed the Warriors a 3-point margin (96-93) only to see a pair of missed opportunities pass the Warriors by. With exactly one minute remaining in overtime, Kauffman missed a shot from beyond the arc only to have Braun grab the offensive rebound. After kicking the ball back out to the top of the arc, Van Hook launched another shot from long distance after four seconds ticked off the clock and Kauffman corralled that errant shot. After grabbing the offensive board, Kauffman attempted to go straight back up with it only to have his 5-footer miss and fall into the hands of Western Oregon. WOU's Jacob Mitchell brought the Wolves within a point (96-95) thanks to a lay-up with 39 seconds remaining. After Corban ticked the clock down, fifth-year head coach Justin Sherwood called a timeout to talk things over since the Warriors had 13 seconds on the shot clock and 17 seconds remaining on the game clock. Following the break in action, Braun lofted a pass from underneath Corban's basket all the way into the back court where Van Hook gathered the pass. With WOU's Swerzbin guarding Van Hook the entire way up the sideline, the Wolves trapped the senior guard and forced a turnover off Van Hook's foot right in front of Corban's bench that Swerzbin gathered and headed towards a wide-open basket. With a hustling Warrior defense bearing down on Swerzbin, the 6-foot senior dished off to a cutting Ryan Schmidt, who calmly laid the ball into the basket to give Western Oregon a 1-point lead (97-96) with four seconds remaining. Still with a chance, Masten took a last-second shot from the top of the arc that bounced off the back of the rim, as the buzzer sounded, and handed Western Oregon its first victory of the season.
Besides Masten, sophomore Wade Douglas (Ontario, Ore.) went 6-for-14 from the field and scored 13 points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds. This is the first double-double of the season for the 6-foot-5 transfer from Treasure Valley Community College.
Braun and Van Hook added 18 and 16 respectively, as the guard duo combined to shoot 11-for-18 from the field, including 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Kauffman concluded the game with 9 points, while junior J.D. Hill (Lebanon, Ore.) and Morris chipped in 6 apiece.
As a team, Corban shot a season-high 55.7% (34-for-61) from the field, including making a season-high 14 shots from behind the 3-point line. On the other hand, Western Oregon shot 39-for-71 (54.9%) from the field and made a mere six shots from beyond the arc on 18 attempts.
Western Oregon was led by Swerzbin's game-high 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, while five other Wolves -- Schmidt, Mitchell, Sprague graduate Travis Kuhns, DeWeese, and Mike McLaughlin -- added 19, 17, 11, 11, and 11 respectively. Mitchell provided the rebounding for the visiting Wolves, as he grabbed a team-high 9 boards while McLaughlin and Schmidt added 8 and 7 respectively.
With the loss, Corban drops to 1-10 overall, while Western Oregon improves to 1-2 on its young season. The Warriors are back in action on Friday, December 8th, when they host the Hillyer's Mid-City Ford Classic against NAIA Division I member Lewis-Clark State beginning at 8:00 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
NOTE: In the opening game of the Hillyer's Mid-City Ford Classic, Oregon Tech's head coach Danny Miles will be going for career win No. 800 when the Hustlin' Owls go head-to-head with NCAA Division III member George Fox beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Capitol City.
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