EUGENE, Ore.  – For fans of the Northwest Christian University men's basketball team, the picture painted on Wednesday night was not a pretty one. For the team from Salem, it was a Picasso. Top-seeded NCU was upset by Corban University, 105-76, making an early exit from the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament presented by U.S. Bank.
 
In the 17-year history of the CCC tournament, an eighth seed has knocked off the top seed just two other times. The last came ten years ago when Evergreen upset top-seeded Oregon Tech.
 
After 12 lead changes in the first ten minutes, Corban took the lead for good with 9:19 remaining in the opening half on an unassuming layup from Jeremiah Harris. Harris proved to be the most important piece of the puzzle for the Warriors, taking on a heavier load with starting Center Joel Johnson shelved due to foul trouble. He did not disappoint as the reserve posted a career-high with 22 points and eight rebounds, shooting 9-for-13 from the field.
 
The Warriors closed out the half with a 54-37 lead and went on to grab their biggest lead of the night with their final two points, a pair of free-throws from Samuel Adjei.
 
Corban dominated in every aspect of the game, shooting 56% from the field to just 41% for the Beacons, hitting 46% of their three-pointers while NCU was just 7-for-23, and most importantly, out-rebounding the home team, 49-26. NCU averaged a 9.0 rebound per game advantage during the regular season, which ranked sixth in NAIA Division II.
 
It was the most points NCU had allowed since November 28, 2010, when they gave up 110 to Humboldt State. The Beacons have allowed teams to hit the century mark just three times since joining the NAIA in 2006.
 
The Warriors had plenty of points to go around and had four other players score in double-figures behind Harris. Jake Love posted 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting while AJ Monterossi and Chris Martin scored 12 each. Caleb Herzberg added ten points. Love, Martin, and Herzberg each hit three deep shots and combined to hit better than 50% from outside.
 
The Beacons (24-5) were led by Jay Mayernik, posting 25 points as he shot 8-for-12 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. Brendyn Taylor added 14 points, five assists and three steals and Jack Hackman came up with 12 points as he also hit a trio of three-pointers. Bradley Laubacher played a season-high 25 minutes and came up with three assists and a game-high three blocks.
 
NCU, having already earned a bid to the NAIA National Tournament, will sit and wait for seedings and matchups to be announced next Wednesday, February 29.
 
Corban (16-15) advances to the semifinals of the CCC tournament and travel to face No. 2 seed Eastern Oregon University on Saturday night. The College of Idaho will host Oregon Tech in the other semifinal.