November 28, 1998

Box Score

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State got 21 points from Deaundra Tanner and withstood a flurry of 3-pointers by Cal-Irvine to take an 80-70 win in non-league men's basketball Saturday afternoon at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers (2-0) also got 12 points and 10 rebounds from Ramunas Petraitis, 13 points from Iyan Walker and 12 points from George von Backstrom.

Oregon State will meet Colorado State at Portland's Rose Garden at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and the Beavers will be looking to play more of the game the way they did at the start of Saturday's contest.

"I thought we went from 12 good minutes the other night to 17 good minutes tonight," said OSU head coach Eddie Payne, whose team led by as many as 19 points in the first half. "The first 17 minutes of the game, I thought we were pretty good. We saw glimpses of what we can do at times.

"We played well, we had good inside-out balance, we defended well, we didn't get broken down off penetration - we handled all those things and had a good run at the first half."

Cal-Irvine (1-2) answered in the second half, as Ben Jones finished with 21 points and Gabe Cagwin with 20. Both those players hit five 3-pointers for the Anteaters, who shot 12-for-33 as a team on 3-pointers.

"Cal-Irvine kept fighting and they knocked down some big shots," Tanner said. "They caught us off-guard. They shot well behind the 3-point line, and we weren't contesting enough shots in the second half ... we've got to come out and play defense for 40 minutes in a game, not 20 or 30 but the whole 40 if we're going to put a team away."

OSU led by as many as 17 points early in the second half before Cal-Irvine began finding its range.

"In the second half, we didn't have the same hungry energy, the same body language, the zip on the defensive end," Payne said. "We gave them some open looks quickly, they made them and they got excited, then we had a game."

The Anteaters pulled within 74-70 with 2:10 left, as a 3-pointer by Cagwin capped a 16-5 run. During that stretch, Cagwin had nine points and Jones five; meanwhile, Oregon State was shooting just 0-for-3 from the field and 5-for-10 from the line and committing four turnovers.

"As a team, our hardest challenge is realizing that everybody in college can play," Walker said. "If you let them do what they want, they can beat you."

OSU began pulling away, though, when Walker scored off an offensive rebound to make it 76-70 with 1:53 to play. From then on, UCI fouled on every Beaver possession and OSU tacked on four free throws down the stretch.

"Every time we play is a learning experience," Payne said. "I think we learned a little today. We reacted to a lead like a young team, and we can't do that. We can't play anything less than our very best in order to have a chance in this league we're going to play in."

Tanner scored 15 of his points in the second half.

"Coach started calling my number, and I started to knock them down," Tanner said. "Somebody had to step up and make some shots, and luckily it was me."

Tanner's 21 points were a season-high for him, and Walker's 13 points matched his career high.

Oregon State had taken control with a pair of first-half runs. Oregon State scored 10 straight points to take a 16-7 lead, with Walker scoring six of those points. Later, OSU went up 40-21 with a 16-6 run that included eight points by von Backstrom.

OREGON STATE 80, CAL-IRVINE 70

CAL-IRVINE (70) - Ondera 2-8 0-0 4; B. Jones 7-20 2-5 21; Willard 3-5 0-0 6; Green 4-8 1-2 9; Bennem 1-7 0-0 3; Divranos 1-1 0-0 2; Scoggin 2-5 0-0 5; Cagwin 7-13 1-1 20. Totals 27-67 4-8 70.

OREGON STATE (80) - Petrovic 1-5 0-0 3; Walker 5-6 3-6 13; von Backstrom 3-5 6-6 12; Tanner 8-16 2-2 21; Petraitis 2-5 6-9 12; Heide 2-2 4-7 8; Masten 1-2 0-0 3; C. Jones 2-4 0-0; Steinthal 1-7 2-5 4. Totals 25-52 23-35 80.

Halftime score: Oregon State 42, Cal-Irvine 27.

3-point shooting: Cal-Irvine 12-33 (B. Jones 6-16, Green 0-1, Bennem 1-4), Oregon State 7-17 (Petrovic 1-1, Tanner 3-6, Petraitis 2-4, Masten 1-2, Steinthal 0-4). Rebounds: Cal-Irvine 34 (Green 7), Oregon State 42 (Petraitis 10). Assists: Cal-Irvine 15 (Green 4, Cagwin 4), Oregon State 16 (von Backstrom 4, Tanner 4).

Fouled out: Divranos, Scoggin. Technical fouls: None. Attendance: 4,065.