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The Beavers and Cougars went down to the wire, but Oregon State couldn’t get past Wazzu in the end, falling 59-55 on the road. This is the Beavers first loss of the season, dropping them to 2-1, while the Cougars stay undefeated at 3-0.
The game was close from wire to wire, though the Cougars held an advantage for most of that time. After a close fought first few minutes, the Cougars began to build a lead behind some solid shooting from Aljaz Kunc, who hit some free throws and three to put WSU up 7. Ethan Thompson finally broke a Beavers scoring drought, and Warith Alatishe got his scoring going to get the Beavers back into the game.
A Zach Reichle three tied the game with 2:34 to go in the first half, and another three from Jarod Lucas gave the Beavers their first lead in 16 minutes, 26-23. The Beavers would take that lead into halftime. OSU would come out hot in the second half, with an Alatishe three, a Reichle dunk and a Roman Silva layup giving them a 10 point lead.
The Cougars began to claw their way back at that point, with Isaac Bonton and DJ Rodman. The Beavers managed to stay in front for awhile, but a four minute scoring drought halfway through the half gave Washington State the lead back. The teams would trade the lead back and forth once more, with Ethan Thompson hitting a free throw to get the Beavers within 1 with less than a minute to go.
A foul on Aljaz Kunc brought him to the line, and he hit a pair of free throws to put the Cougars up 3. Zach Reichle missed a three that could have tied the game, and Wazzu managed to grab the rebound and tack on another foul shot. Zach Reichle then missed another three, and that was all she wrote.
It was not a great shooting night for any of the Beavs. Reichle led the team with 12 points, but only shot .500. Warith Alatishe was right behind him with 11 points, and those were the only two Beavers to hit double digits in scoring.
Isaac Bonton led the Cougars with 15 points, while DJ Rodman added 13, with Aljaz Kunc and Noah Williams each adding 12.
The Beavers will be back in action on Sunday, December 6th, when Wyoming comes to Corvallis. Tip off is set for 1:00 PM PT.