Beaver home support was treated to an intense, neck-in-neck clash between Oregon State and their PNW rival Washington State, as the Beavers came out on top 82-74.

The Washington State Cougars came into Thursday night’s late-night tip-off on a four-game losing streak, hoping to turn around recent results.

The 306th all-time meeting between the Cougars and Beavers started with early points for the Cougars, taking advantage of a slow start from the home side.

The Beavers were chasing the lead for most of the first half, with their largest lead only being four. The Beavers had to climb out of a sizable early hole after trailing 11-3.

With the help of two three-pointers from Isaiah Sy, the Beavers eventually took a narrow lead toward the end of the half before falling behind again in the final minutes.

Both sides exchanged three-pointers in the first half, with Ethan Price and Nate Calmese stealing the show for Washington State, combining for three of the Cougars’ four three-pointers in the first half.

The first half ended in a minimal margin, 37-36 in favor of the Cougars. 

The Beavers came out strong in the second half. After Nate Kingz took an early lead, the Beavers never looked back. 

A strong second-half performance from junior Michael Rataj carried the Beavers over the line, never dropping the lead in the second 20 minutes.

Postgame, head coach Wayne Tinkle expanded on Rataj’s impressive second half, saying, “It’s a good thing he’s a second-half player.”

“He stepped up and made some good baskets for us,” Tinkle said.

Thanks to Rataj’s impressive second-half showing, the Beavers came out winners, 82-74, in front of an electric home crowd. 

The slow start wasn’t forgotten by Tinkle, despite the win, “we weren’t playing with the urgency we needed to, so we went to some other guys, and they responded. That was key, keeping it close at half,” said Tinkle. “We knew we could bust out offensively in the second half.” 

Tinkle emphasized the importance of energy off the bench in the first half to match the energy of the Cougars, working to keep it close before utilizing home court in the second half.

“You’ve gotta get something off the bench; we haven’t gotten that in the last few games,” Tinkle said postgame.

Josiah Lake and Isaiah Sy especially impressed off the bench, and were key for the Beavers, especially in the first half, as the offense lulled and struggled at times. 

Once Rataj and the Beavers found their rhythm in the second half though, it was business as usual against the Cougars. 

After the impressive second-half display, the Beavers will be looking to stay hot for their next action coming on Saturday against St. Mary’s, tipping off at 7 p.m. in Corvallis at Gill Coliseum.