via Oregon State Athletic Communications
CORVALLIS. – The Oregon State men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to San Francisco 74-72 Wednesday evening at Gill Coliseum.
The tightly-contested game went back-and-forth in the final two minutes. The Beavers took the lead with 18 seconds left, before the Dons went in front 74-72 on a 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play. Parsa Fallah looked to have evened things up as time expired, but upon video review the shot was determined to have been taken after the clock hit zero, and San Francisco claimed the win.
With the defeat, the Beavers fall to 20-10 on the season and 10-7 in WCC play, while San Francisco moves to 23-7 overall, 13-4 in conference action.
Fallah finished with 24 points on 11-for-13 shooting from the floor. Michael Rataj ended his evening in double-figures with 11 points and seven rebounds. Damarco Minor had eight assists in the game, bringing his season-total to 157 as he cracked the top-10 on Oregon State’s single-season list.
Josiah Lake II had nine points, six rebounds and five assists, while Nate Kingz matched his nine points. Liutauras Lelevicius had eight points and four rebounds off the bench.
As a team, Oregon State shot 52 percent from the floor and out-rebounded San Francisco 31-28.
San Francisco scored the first points of the contest, but the Beavers answered by scoring the next seven to take an early lead. The teams traded punches from there, with the Beavers in front 20-15 with eight minutes to go before the break.
Oregon State was able to extend the lead to 12, but the Dons battled back with an 14-0 run to head to the break leading 33-31.
San Francisco followed that up by scoring the first seven points of the second half to bring the advantage to nine. This time it was the Beavers’ turn to respond, as the Oregon State got back within a point at the mid-way point of the second frame.
OSU retook the lead at 53-51. The two sides traded punches, with Oregon State leading 66-64 with two minutes remaining. The Dons were able to come out ahead in the closing seconds.
Oregon State celebrated its seniors in a pregame ceremony, as Matthew Marsh was honored alongside student-managers Alan Favela and Beau Rinker.
The Beavers will close out the regular season on Saturday at Saint Mary’s.
