SALEM, Ore. – Sophomore Drayton Caoile (pictured) hit five three pointers and freshman Luke Smith hit the go-ahead bucket in the final minute as the Bushnell men's basketball team took down defending CCC Champion Corban University in the conference opener on Tuesday, 71-69.
 
The Willamette Valley rivals got a good look at each other last weekend with both participating in Bushnell's Beacon Classic and the familiarity was evident in a close game that featured five ties, five lead changes, and no lead bigger than six points for the entirety.
 
Corban owned their biggest lead at 19-13 midway through the opening half, but the Beacons chipped away to take a 38-36 lead into the intermission. The Bushnell advantage moved to 62-57 on a Jarrett Bryant layup with 7:40 to play, but the Warriors also fought their way back, taking the lead with under three minutes to play.
 
After trading buckets and a 1-for-2 trip to the free-throw line for Bryant, the score was once again tied, 67-67 with 97 seconds left. Bushnell was able to make stops on the next two Corban possessions, and Smith hit a lay-in with 58 seconds to play, giving Bushnell the lead for good.
 
Head Coach Eddie Alexander said, "A conference win is always huge but winning against your rival is even bigger. I give Corban a lot of credit. They executed even when we knew what was coming."
 
Bushnell (3-3, 1-0 CCC), who shot 55% for the game and was 47% from three-point range, was led by Caoile who went 5-for-5 from three-point range and led all players with 19 points. Junior Stevie Schlabach added 15 points while Bryant finished with 11 and Smith ended the night with nine points and six rebounds.
 
"Drayton and Stevie played extremely well with the defense keying in on the two of them," said Alexander. 'dray found his shot tonight and it showed up big for us. Our true freshmen in the rotation just keep getting better off the bench. I am really proud of both Jarrett and Luke."
 
Caoile added, "It was a great team win tonight and we didn't expect the outcome to be any different. We played as a team, fought as a team, and secured the win as a family. This is just the start."
 
"I thought our team showed great effort and determination," added Schlabach. "Dray has been playing incredibly for us recently and has really guided us in these past two victories."
 
Corban (4-3, 0-1) was held to 46% shooting and just 5-for-17 from outside. Kendall Moore led the way with 15 points while Jordan Newt added 12 and a team-best four rebounds.
 
The Beacons will be back on the court on December 3 when they travel to Portland to take on Multnomah University.