Corban Men Snap Two Game Slide With Win Over Cascade

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PORTLAND - Junior J.D. Hill scored a career-high 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field and 7-for-12 from the free throw line, as Corban's men's basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with an 86-81 win over the Thunderbirds of Cascade on Friday.

Following a minuscule 2-point performance last weekend against Evergreen, Hill provided the spark off the bench in helping lead Corban to its fourth victory of the season and guarantee that the Warriors will finish out of the cellar in the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings this season.

Corban opened the game shooting 18-for-34 (52.0%) from the field in the first half en route to securing a slim one-point advantage (43-42).

In the closing twenty minutes, the visiting Warriors made less field goals than their opponents, but took complete control with an 81.8% (18-for-22) performance at the free throw line.

After dropping a pair of games last weekend, including a heart-breaking double overtime loss to The Evergreen State College, Corban came out with a season-sweep of the host Thunderbirds of Cascade on their minds and took care of business thanks to an 11-point difference (18-to-7) at the charity stripe in the second half.

Along with Hill's career and team-high point total, junior Hannes Gehring provided 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field, while pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Sophomore Wade Douglas and freshman Ben Potloff added 14 and 8 points respectively, while Hill and Douglas aided Gehring's rebounding effort with 8 and 6 boards respectively.

Gehring has sparked the Warrior offense over the past three games thanks to scoring a combined 55 points (avg. 18.3), including a career-high 25 points last Saturday in the Warriors' double overtime loss to Evergreen.

Meanwhile, Douglas has score 10-or-more points in eight of his last nine games, including a career-high 32 points versus nationally-ranked Albertson College of Idaho on January 19th.

As a team, Corban shot 30-for-59 (50.8%) from the field, including a 23-for-33 (67.7%) performance at the free throw line. Meanwhile, Cascade shot 31-for-71 (43.7%) from the field, including an astonishing 8-for-28 (28.6%) from beyond the 3-point line.

Despite the visiting Warriors making a season-low three shots from beyond the arc, Corban made up the difference at the free throw line en route to securing the much-needed victory.

Cascade was led by Gerry Picken's game-high 32 points on 12-for-25 shooting from the field, while Shaun Pile and Brent Newell added 12 and 10 points respectively.

Pile pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, while Travis Toedtemeier and Marty McLaughlin grabbed 7 and 6 boards respectively.

With its second win in the past four games, Corban improves to 4-23 overall, 2-13 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play.

Meanwhile, Cascade drops its third straight contest to fall to 5-21 overall, 1-14 in CCC action.

The Warriors will venture away from the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center for the final time this season when Corban goes head-to-head with the NAIA's No. 5-ranked Knights of Warner Pacific Saturday, February 10th beginning at 7:30 PM inside C.C. Perry Gym

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