Beavers roll Corban in exhibition

The Oregon State Beavers' Men's Basketball team opened up their 2016-2017 season with a home exhibition game against Corban from the NAIA.

OSU handled their business with a 96-58 victory.

"You always worry about these games because you wonder about how serious your team is going to take the opponent, nerves, jitters - and with this group, especially with so many young guys and new guys, we were a little concerned," OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said.

"All in all, I really loved the intensity that this group came out with from the start. We really set the tone. In the second half, we were a little too flat coming out, and we allowed them to get some confidence going, but we had a great out of the gate effort. We told the guys that this early [in the season], we don't expect them to play their best 40 minutes yet, but we can make sure we're playing our tails off."

Oregon State had seven players scoring in double figures - Tres Tinkle 15, Drew Eubanks 10, Cheikh N'Diaye 10, Stevie Thompson Jr. 14, Jaquori McLaughlin 17, Daine Muller 10, and Gligorije Rakocevic 12.

The true freshman McLaughlin led the team in points, minutes, shot attempts, and shots made for the Beavers.

"Being out there for the first time, there were a little jitters, but if you're going hard, you're really not thinking about being nervous," McLaughlin said. "You just want to do the right thing and go hard for your team."

Thompson Jr. was a good scorer last year for the Beavers with 10.6 points per game. The sophomore guard has become a mature, dynamic player, according to his head coach.

"Stevie has really welcomed being more than a one trick pony -a guy that can shoot and score," Tinkle said. "He's making plays for his teammates and that's going to make him more dangerous. Now they don't know how to guard him. When he gets by somebody, he's able to find the open guy, so they might not be so willing to help."

Junior forward Keondre Dew, who is a junior college transfer for OSU, did not play in the game because of a coach's decision. Coach Tinkle did not go into anymore detail about the situation.

Ronnie Stacy, Stevie Thompson Jr., Tres Tinkle, Drew Eubanks, and Cheikh N'Diaye were the five starters for Oregon State.