Martin Leads #8 Seeded Warriors to Win in CCC Men's Tournament Championship 109-95 - Mar 3, 2017

Chris Martin (5'10''-PG) scored 30 of his game high 34 points in the second half going 10-12 from long range leading the Corban Warriors to victory as they became the first ever #8 seed to make, and to win the CCC Tournament Championship downing No. 22 and 4th seeded Oregon Tech 109-95. The win for Corban handed Tech their first home loss of the season (17-1) on Danny Miles Court in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Basketball Tournament Championship presented by U.S. Bank.
Oregon Tech (24-9) and Corban (18-15) both entered the game knowing what was on the line, an automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament. The two teams came out with a slow pace to the game, not eager to give anything away early. The first few baskets were exchanged at either end of the floor, before the Warriors went on a 2-16 run, led by sophomore center Joel Johnson (6'9''-C). With the score sitting at 7-22, the Owls called a timeout to regroup.
Coming off the pause in play, the Hustlin' Owls offense began to click, but they could not slow down the Warriors. As Tech worked to climb back in the game, Warriors guard, Jake Love (6'2''-G) helped his team keep the double-digit lead by hitting 4 of 4 shots from behind the three-point arc and giving Corban their biggest lead at 19-points. With the half winding down, the Owls matched Love's four three-pointers, with Joel Yellow Owl, Brandon Halter (6'4''-G), Seth Erickson (6'3''-G) and Tyler Hieb (6'5''-G) all hitting their three-point attempts. The Warriors entered the halftime break with a 16-point lead, with the score line sitting at 38-54.
The second half of play brought out the best in both teams and saw the Hustlin' Owls committed to closing the point differential. Tech started with a 12-5 run, as a Mitchell Fink (6'1''-G) lay-in closed the lead to 8-points. The Warriors working hard to keep the gap in double-digits saw Chris Martin (5'10''-PG) hit his next two three-point attempts bringing the lead back up. The Owls would again close the game back to 8-points, this time with a Brandon Halter (6'4''-G) 3-pointer from the corner, as a Warriors called a timeout.
Chris Martin (5'10''-PG) came out of the timeout with the hot hand for the Warriors and hit his next four three-point attempts, shooting his team into the lead with a 20-point lead. Tech slowed the play with a timeout as they got refocused. Committed defense stifled the Warriors looks at the hoop, as Tech cut the deficit back to 8-points for the third time in second half with just 3:00 minutes left to play. Corban refused to give in to Tech's push, as Martin's hot shooting kept the Owls at bay. Martin closed the game hitting three more three-point shots and bringing the game to a close with a score of 95-109.
On the night, the Warriors shot 54% from the floor and an amazing 60% from behind the three-point line. Following Martin was Jake Love with 20 points and 7 rebounds, with AJ Monterossi (5'10''-PG) putting in 18 points of his own. Jeremiah Harris (6'0''-G) was also in double-digits with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
Oregon Tech saw Joel Yellow Owl put up 25 points on the night, followed by Mitchell Fink (6'1''-G) with 19 points and 8 assists, and Bryan Beard (6'10''-F) with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
Corban become the first winner of the Danny Miles Tournament Trophy and earn the CCC's second automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship.

Cascade Tournament Final: Corban - Oregon Tech 109-95
Cascade Tournament Semifinals:
Corban - Eastern Oregon 100-90
Oregon Tech - College of Idaho 75-69

Courtesy of CascadeConference