CORVALLIS It took some time for Oregon State to acclimate to its first personnel obstacle, which occurred Thursday night.
However, the Beavers defeated Pepperdine 83-63 at Gill Coliseum after figuring out how to play without big man Parsa Fallah in the second half.
Early in the second half, the Beavers fell behind, but they quickly overtook the Waves with a string of three-pointers. In order to win the second half, OSU made seven three-pointers and shot 73%.
To lead the Beavers (15-6, 5-3 WCC), Michael Rataj hit 4 of 4 from three-point range and scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second half. Damarco Minor scored 13 points and Liutauras Lelevicius scored 12 for Oregon State, while Nate Kingz scored 20 points and made four three-pointers.
Due to concussion protocol, Fallah, the Beavers’ second-leading scorer this season, was unable to play.
The Beavers offense shot 61% (34 of 56) during their recent shooting spree. The Beavers shot better than 56% for the fifth time in their past eight games, and it was their second-highest shooting effort of the season.
Stefan Todorovic led Pepperdine (7-13, 1-6) with 19 points.
Oregon State led 34-29 at the break, but their first 20 minutes were anything but spectacular. After allowing Pepperdine to score the game’s first basket, the Beavers never fell behind, but they were unable to generate enough runs to take the lead.
During a 12-point first half, Kingz made five of seven shots and drained two three-pointers for OSU. Throughout the Beavers’ 13-point first half, Todorovic halted the momentum whenever the Beavers seemed like they were about to lose. With 7:39 remaining, Oregon State was ahead 25-16, but Zion Bethea’s three-pointer with 2:21 left allowed the Waves to close the gap to two points.
Pepperdine took a 36-34 lead after scoring the first seven points of the second half. It was all Oregon State after that. The Beavers went on a 13-2 run to gain control after Kingz made a three-pointer to start the game.
The Beavers had bursts of four, five, and six straight shots in the second half as everything started to click offensively. A few lob passes from Minor to freshman post Maxim Logue for dunks were part of the assault.
Oregon State had a 22-point lead.
The Beavers’ next game is against Santa Clara at Gill Coliseum on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The contact information for Nick Daschel is 360-607-4824, [email protected], or @nickdaschel.
Your support is essential to our journalism. Sign up for OregonLive.com now.
Latest Beavers news
-
Late three spoils impressive Oregon State rally as Beaver women fall at San Francisco
-
Oregon State post Parsa Fallah out for Thursday s game against Pepperdine
-
A duck hunt, Gavin Turley and an Oregon State baseball photo shoot surprise
