Final Score: Beavers 62, Coyotes 47 (Box score)
With first-game jitters out of the way, Oregon State cruised to a comfortable victory, their first of the year, against South Dakota in their second game of the Duel in the Desert.
Roeland Schaftenaar and Calvin Haynes lead the Beavers with 14 points apiece, Daniel Deane scored 10, and Schaftenaar grabbed six boards in the win.
After the game, Coach Robinson was much more pleased with the effort he got from his team. The starters combined for 42 of the team's points-- on Friday, the same group scored just 28 against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. He was also happy to see the team play with more energy than they did the night before, which is good to see in the team's second game in as many games. It's the beginning of the season, but it's nice to see that the team wasn't just run down from pre-season practice and conditioning.
The Beavers got a solid performance from Angus Brandt, the heir-apparent to Roeland Schaftenaar. Those in attendance, including Todd Mansfield and Coach Robinson himself, were happy to see Angus dish out several passes that were reminiscent of Roeland's game. Angus finsihed the game with 6 points on 3-of-7 shooting. He also had five assists, a block, and a steal.
All this doesn't mean that the problems exposed on Friday aren't fixed: there is still plenty of work to do. The free throw shooting was still suspect (45 percent), although the field goal percentage was better (52 percent). The amount of turnovers (14 vs. SD) decreased from Friday (25 vs. TAMUCC), but is still too high for Coach Robinson's liking. The Beavers will get a big test today in Texas Tech, the tournament host. More on that game to follow.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)