New year, same business; the Oregon State men’s basketball team opens their first home game of the 2025 calendar year with a victory over the San Diego Toreros, 81-54.
OSU’s season has gotten off to a fun start to say the least, boasting an 11-4 record heading into today’s matchup. Coming off an away loss to the Loyola Marymount Lions, the Beavers sit at 8-2 over their last 10 games, which included a six-game winning streak.
Junior forward Micheal Rataj has been leading the way, first on the team in points, rebounds, steals and blocks per game. Fellow juniors, guard Nate Kingz and forward Parsa Fallah, are averaging at least 10 points per game.
The Beavers jumped out to a hot start in the first half against San Diego, taking a 33-28 lead at the half. Shooting over 50% in three pointers, field goals, and free throws had a big part in this.
“I thought we established what we needed out of the gate and settled a little more in the second half,” said Tinkle. “Some things to work on but proud of these guys nonetheless.”
The team’s defense stood out significantly as well, putting up 13 points scored off six turnovers on the board, and holding San Diego to under 45% shooting in both threes and field goals.
“For the most part, this team hangs its hat on defense. Credit (to) our leaders and these guys (for) getting things going, says a lot about these guys with how they bounced back,” said head coach Wayne Tinkle on the team’s defensive performance against San Diego, following the loss in their prior game.
Sophomore guard Liutauras Lelevicius broke out leading the teams in points with 10 and being a perfect 2-2 in three-pointers and 4-4 in field goals.
“We felt that loss last game and did not want to feel that again,” Lelevicius said, “We came together and wanted to make this one would count and make sure that no more games like last time would happen.”
OSU would close out the second half with a consistent lead, never letting San Diego get within more than eight points.
By the end of the night, an astounding four players posted double-digit points, with Rataj leading with 18, along with 10 rebounds. The team would force seven more turnovers to bring their total on the night to 13, with 22 points scored off said takeaways.
The team would finish over at least 55% shooting in field goals and free throws and would lead the entirety of this matchup, 39:11 to San Diego’s 0:00 time of possession. Outside of some late foul troubles, the Beavers closed this matchup out with a comfortable 27-point gap.
“We felt like we should’ve scored more points tonight, left a lot at the free throw line, but overall we bounced back tremendously,” Tinkle said.
The Beavers next matchup will see them head to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos on Thursday with the student presence back on campus for the start of the winter term.