By Harry Cummins

     After sitting out the past 3 games, the NAIA’s D-2 leading scorer, Justin Martin, poured in 40 points tonight in his return, a thrilling 97-93 road win for the Lions (8-8) over Corban.

    Forrest Smith tallied 19 points, as well, for the victors, 16 coming in a sizzling first half. Sophomore Zach Richardson added 15 points on 4 of 7 3’s in the win.  Martin converted a career-high 16 of  his 17 free throw attempts in scoring 40 or more points for the 4th time this season.  His 53 point  outburst earlier this season is the high point mark in NAIA D-2 for 2019-2020.

     Multnomah shot 49% from the field, 44% from long range for the contest.  Smith added 8 rebounds to his big scoring night, while Martin, 2nd in the nation in assists per game, collected 5 more.  With his 40 point outpouring, Martin further solidifies his bid for back-to-back national scoring titles.

     AJ Hodges paced Corban with 23 points.

     The Lions win tonight, their first ever at Corban, was also their first of the year (1-5) in conference play.  They now travel to Eugene Saturday night to take on Northwest Christian University.   They return home January 17 to launch a key 7 game home stand, Justin Martin back in tow, in an effort to climb back into the Cascade Collegiate Conference playoff race.

    The stunning new video screen just installed in the lobby of Jim Skagen Court on the campus of Multnomah University might simply read..”He’s Back”

Be sure to check out all of Harry’s articles on Craw’s Corner, Including Harry’s thoughts on What Is The Single Most Important Stat On A Basketball Scoresheet?