CORVALLIS, Ore., Jan. 26 -- California State University Bakersfield issued the following press release:
For the better part of 32 minutes, the CSUB men's
basketball team stood on the brink of its first signature win at the
NCAA Division I level. But
Oregon State had one final burst to get just enough separation, then held on at the end to post a 65-59 victory Monday night at Gill Coliseum.
Oregon State (9-10 overall) was coming off a huge weekend sweep at
NCAA Tournament contenders Cal and
Stanford. But the Beavers couldn't shake CSUB (5-15) until the final seconds.
In the end, however, OSU fell back on its substantial size advantage to make the key plays it need down the stretch. "I'm really proud of our kids," said CSUB Head Coach Keith Brown. "We showed great basketball I.Q. tonight. It was a great effort against a team that had just beat Cal and Stanford on the road." The Roadrunners got big efforts up and down the lineup, perhaps no effort bigger than the one provided by Alex Johnson (Toronto/Vaughan Road Academy), the smallest player on the court for either team. Johnson missed his first two three-point attempts, then came back to bury six of eight from long range as part of his team-high 19 points. He also chipped in five assists. Junior forward Jose Lara (Santa Paula/College of the Sequoias), CSUB biggest player, had his best game as a Roadrunner, scoring six points while playing solid defense against OSU's contingent of taller post players. Roeland Schaftenaar, the Beavers' 6-11 center, used a deadly jump hook against CSUB's smaller interior defenders to score a game-high 20 points. He also led all players with eight rebounds. The first half was tightly contested with neither team able to hold onto the lead for a significant length of time. OSU looked ready to seize control when a Schaftenaar jump hook gave the Beavers a 25-19 lead with 2:18 to play. But back-to-back three-pointers by Johnson tied the game before a Schaftenaar layup gave OSU a 27-25 halftime lead. Another Johnson three opened the second half and gave CSUB its final lead at 28-27. OSU took the lead for good at 36-34 four minutes into the second half, but its advantage stayed within one or two possessions until the eight-minute mark. That's when a Calvin Haynes three-pointer sparked a lightning fast 11-0 run that gave the Beavers their biggest lead at 60-47. CSUB battled back one more time, getting to within five points with the possession of the ball and 1:08 remaining. But Donavan Bragg (Inglewood/Serra HS) missed a three-pointer that would have made it 62-59 with 47 seconds to play. Schaftenaar and Haynes then nailed four free throws to ice the game. While the Roadrunners will looked to build on Monday's solid effort when they return home to host fellow NCAA Division I independent Utah Valley University Saturday in Rabobank Arena, Brown wasn't accepting a moral victory. "We play to win and prepare to win every night, so were never satisfied with a loss," he said. "But even when we went down by 13 we never stopped battling and we gave ourselves a chance at the end. I'm proud of that effort."For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
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