Oregon State Basketball: Beavers Top Arizona State In Last Second Thriller, 80-79

A complete back-and-forth affair ended in Oregon State’s favor on Saturday night, as Oregon State found a way to get past Arizona State, 80-79, with help from a last second dunk from forward Warith Alatishe.

Alatishe may have had only 6 points on a 2-8 day from the field in the contest, but a key cut in the game’s final stage allowed Ethan Thompson to deliver a beautiful pass for maybe the transfer’s easiest score of the evening. The Beavers held on through the final seconds to fully bury a horrendous loss to Arizona way in their rearview mirror.

For Oregon State, it was brand new starter Jarod Lucas who filled up the stat-sheet with a team-high 18 points on a 4-6 showing from behind the arc. Ethan Thompson added 17 points, a fury of them coming within the first moments of the second half, and Zach Reichle, still maybe the team’s biggest x-factor, chipped in 11 points and 5 rebounds.

The duo of Rodrigue Andela and Roman Silva also added a crucial 9 points a piece off the bench.

If you’re speechless after this one as a Beavers fan, you’re not alone. Oregon State looked absolutely lifeless earlier this week and they rallied back for this one in fashion to move to 6-5 on the campaign and 2-3 in Pac-12 play.

In defeat, Arizona State had four players finished with double-figures in scoring, led by Marcus Bagley’s 19 points, Josh Christopher’s 14 points, Remy Martin’s 14 points and Chris Osten’s 12 points. Alonzo Verge Jr. also added 8 points and 8 assists.

The Sun Devils fall to 4-6 on the year overall, with a 1-3 mark in conference play despite entering the 2020-2021 season as a projected NCAA tournament team and potentially one of the top 25 squads in the land.

Up Next: The Beavers homestand continues with a contest against USC on Tuesday, January 19th at 4:00 PM PT on ESPN2.