Oregon State MBB: Beavers Outlast Utah Valley 74-71
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State erased an 11-point first-half deficit, with nine players scoring in the game, and earned its sixth-straight win at home, 74-71, over Utah Valley on Saturday afternoon at Gill Coliseum.
The Beavers (6-3) remained perfect at home this season and have four more games at Gill before hitting the road the first week of January.
Tyler Bilodeau led the Beavers with 19 points, while Michael Rataj recorded his second double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, bettering the 10 boards he had against Cal Poly in the Beavers' last game.
Jordan Pope made two clutch free throws with 15 seconds left to give the Beavers a 71-68 lead. After Utah Valley's K'Mani Doughty made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 72-71 with six seconds on the clock, Bilodeau knocked down a pair of free throws.
Caleb Stone-Carrawell missed a contested 3-pointer jumper as the buzzer sounded.
Pope finished with 11 points and has scored in double figures in all nine games this season.
Oregon State bigs KC Ibekwe (8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Chol Marial (7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks) were a force on the inside offensively and defensively.
Freshman walk-on Josiah Lake II continued his strong play off the bench with five points and five points in 16 minutes.
Stone-Carrawell led the Wolverines with 19 points, while Tanner Toolson added 17 and Doughty finished with 12.
Oregon State has seven days off for Finals Week before hosting UTSA at noon on Sunday, December 17 at Gill Coliseum. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Network.
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