Oregon State Beats Cal in Final Seconds

Oregon State held on in the final minutes to beat the Cal Golden Bears 77-71. The Beavers were lead by Gary Payton ll with 20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and one block. They also got a lot of help from their bench with Tres Tinkle adding 15 points and Stephen Thompson Jr. 11. Oregon State's bench outscored Cal's 42 to 8. The Golden Bears were lead by Jaylen Brown who scored 20.

In the opening minutes of the game the Golden Bears held a 8-4 lead, with the Beavers having missed three shots in a row. Before Olaf Schaftenaar hit a three to cut it to a one point lead. Oregon State would go on a ten point run to take the lead 14-8, with Payton either having scored or assisted in each of the fourteen points. The Beavers never looked back as they continued to dominate the first half, finishing the half with an eleven point lead 38-27.

In the opening of the second half, Drew Eubanks hit a jumper to extend the Beavers' lead to thirteen. Oregon State led the Golden Bears by double digits, but Cal chipped away to drop it nine, eight minutes into the second half. Cal mounted a twelve point run to cut the Beavers' lead to 48-46 to make it a game again, and get the announcers back into the game.

The Beavers looked to put the Golden Bear away as they gave themselves breathing room moving their lead back up to eight 58-50. With 1:49 left in the game Cal's Jordan Mathews hit a three to cut it to a three point lead 71-68. Tres Tinkle made a clutch shot as he hit a jumper behind the background with the clock nearly at zero clock, to push the lead to five. Mathews would not let the Golden Bears go away lightly as he hit another three to cut it to a 73-71 lead.

Gary Payton ll like so many times before played the savior for the Beavers. Payton drove past some defenders and floated the ball near the basket, in the process getting fouled. He would complete the three point play to secure the win 76-71. With mere seconds left, Payton got a defensive rebound, Cal with time running out would have to foul. Payton went 1 for 2 with the final score 77-71.

With the win the Beavers improve to (11-3, 2-1 Pac-12), while Cal drops to (12-5, 2-2 Pac-12). Oregon State travels to Colorado to take on the Buffaloes on Wednesday, game time start at 8pm with the game being on ESPNU.