PORTLAND, Ore – 24th ranked Warner Pacific survived a scare from hot-shooting Corban tonight, 87-86. The visiting Warriors torched the nets at 64 percent shooting including a 22 of 27 effort in the first half.
 
The host Knights scored with efficiency also (49 percent for the game) and needed every point they could muster to hold off the upset minded club from Salem. Corban had the final possession of the game but could not get a shot as time expired.
 
Corban was dialed in from the opening tip, making their first seven shot attempts on the way to a 17-8 lead. AJ Monterossi was the catalyst, scoring 15 points and passing for nine assists in the first half alone. Warner Pacific stayed in the game thanks to the interior play of De'Jon Bowman, who battled inside for 15 points before halftime. Despite Corban's torrid shooting, the Knights trailed by just five points at the break (52-47) after Taylor Young floated home a lob from an out of bounds play at the halftime buzzer.

Rebounds were scarce as the Warriors ended the first period shooting 76 percent, while WPC connected on 17 of 34 tries from the field (50 percent).

Warner Pacific gained the lead for the first time three minutes into the second half (55-54) thanks to consecutive layups from Young. The Warrior shooter cooled down somewhat after halftime, but found enough open looks to reclaim the lead at the 13:41 mark. A Joel Johnson dunk and free throw made the score 64-63 in favor of Corban.

The rest of the contest was a thriller, but WPC hit enough clutch shots to edge out to a six point advantage. Collin Malcolm splashed a three pointer with 1:58 on the clock to give the Knights a 87-81 lead. Those would be last points the Knights would put on the board however, while a trey from Caleb Herzberg and layup from Cyrus Ward made it a one possession game. In the final moments, Warner Pacific came up empty on offense giving Corban eight seconds to conjure a winning shot. The Warriors had their play broken up by Xaiver Cannefax however, and the Knights escaped with the victory.