SALEM, Ore. – Conference play got off to a rocky start on Tuesday night for the Northwest Christian University men's basketball team, as they left Salem 0-1 in CCC action after a 82-75 loss to the Corban Warriors.
 
NCU (3-3, 0-1 CCC) battled-back to tie the game at just under three minutes, but were unable to gain the edge over the Warriors (4-2, 1-0) on their home court. The Beacons secured the ball well, turning the ball over just eight times in the game, two less than their conference foes.
 
Three-point shooting ended up being the difference in the first half, as Corban hit six shots from deep compared to just one from the Beacons. NCU held a +1 advantage on the boards in the first 20 minutes, going into the half down by seven.
 
While NCU played the second half from behind, they matched the Warriors scoring efforts with 45 points. Corban got the lead up to 15 at one point, yet were unable to close at the margin as the Beacons went on two six-point rallies followed by nine in-a-row to tie the score at 68. The Warriors answered with an eight-point scoring run of their own to regain the lead and seal the victory.
 
The Beacons had three players surpass the ten-point mark in the game, led by Michael Loomis who finished with 25 points and nine boards, all on the defensive end. Austin Tyner came off the bench to shoot 60% en route to 17 points, while Reece Robinson had 11 points and eight rebounds in his 20 minutes.
 
Jake Love had a game-high 31 points for the Warriors, followed by Chris Martin (12), Beau Roggenbach (11), and AJ Monterossi (10). Joel Johnson came down with 15 rebounds in addition to blocking six shots.
 
Northwest Christian is back in action on Saturday, December 2 for a non-conference road game against New Hope Christian College. Tip off is at 7 p.m. in the Rexius Event Center.