The Oregon State men’s basketball team defeated the Santa Clara Broncos 83-69 on Saturday afternoon in Corvallis.
In a game in which the Beavers trailed for a total of 17 seconds, the Broncos found themselves playing catchup for the entire game.
“It was a hell of a battle and I’m just glad we came out on top,” head coach Wayne Tinkle said after the game.
OSU entered the contest with a 15-6 record, 5-3 in West Coast Conference play. The Broncos walked into Gill Coliseum with a 14-7 overall record while 6-2 in conference play.
With the win, the Beavers moved ahead of Santa Clara in the WCC standings, climbing into fourth place.
The game opened with a layup and free throw from OSU junior Nate Kingz, who gave the Beavers a 3-0 lead. Santa Clara’s Carlos Stewart Jr. made a three point jumper to tie the game.
In the ensuing three minutes, OSU went on a 6-0 run, only to be outscored by the Broncos’ 12-6 run in the following six minutes to tie the game at 15 with 10 minutes left in the first half.
Michael Rataj, the Beavers’ leading scorer for the game, netted a career-high 30 points on 9-17 shooting from the field and 10-10 from the free throw line. Rataj also collected six rebounds and one assist.
The last 10 minutes of the first half saw the Broncos take their only lead of the game. Santa Clara’s Christoph Tilly made a free throw, to give the Broncos an 18-17 lead.
17 seconds later, OSU’s Maxim Logue made a layup to restore the Beavers’ advantage.
The Broncos would go more than three minutes without scoring another point, cutting their deficit to 21-24 when Elijah Mahi made a three-point shot.
The Beavers would go on another 6-0 run to expand their lead to 30-21 before being outscored 9-2 in the final three minutes of the first half.
The second half opened with the Beavers leading 32-30 and outscoring the Broncos 13-2 in the first six minutes to lead 45-32.
The Broncos, however, once again cut the Beavers’ lead to one point as three different Broncos made three-point shots. With 13:52 remaining in the game, the Broncos went on a 24-12 run that ended when Rataj sank a pair of free throws.
OSU led 57-56 with 6:28 remaining. Rataj sparked a 15-5 run to propel the Beavers to a 72-61 lead.
The Beavers and Broncos spent the final three minutes trading shots and misses before the Broncos resorted to fouling.
The strategy did not work in Santa Clara’s favor, as the Beavers were 21-22 from the free-throw line on the night.
Tinkle opined on the game’s final minutes: “When we asked our guys to dig deep, to pick up the intensity, they found a way to do it the last seven or eight minutes and close it out.”
The Beavers play their next game on January 28 at Gonzaga University at 8 p.m.