After beating the University of Pacific in their last meeting, the Oregon State University men’s basketball team was unsure of their defense this time around.

The Beavers were able to turn it around for the back half of the game, beating the Tigers 79-65 in Gill Coliseum this Saturday afternoon.

“Compete, execute, and enjoy each other out there were the three things we wrote on the board,” head coach Wayne Tinkle said in the post-game press conference. “At this point it’s not X’s and O’s, it’s just reaching down into your chest cavity and making sure your heart’s ticking and getting after it, and then off the ball, having each other’s backs. We’ve been a little disconnected recently, as well.”

While OSU stayed ahead by a few buckets for most of the first half, the Tigers were never far behind, coming back to tie it up 40-40 at halftime. 

Tinkle needed a different approach from the Beavers.

“Tonight, at second half, we just reminded them, you know, that we can’t let a team come in here and score 40 points, this is what our weakness has been, it’s time to flip it,” Tinkle said. “Credit to the guys for coming out and answering the second half.”

The Beavers are currently ranked fifth in the WCC defensively by ESPN, and lost by 12 and 14 points in their last two matches against Portland University and Saint Mary’s University.

Tigers’ Petar Krivokapic led Pacific scoring for the first half scoring nothing but three-pointers going four out of five. Despite playing for eight minutes in the second half, Krivokapic was only able to pick up two more points. Tigers’ Lamar Washington played the entire match, leading the team with 16 points. 

Those two guards, along with Tigers’ Elijah Fisher, scored two-thirds of the team’s points for the night.

On the other hand, OSU shared the rock all game. Of the eight players who touched the court, six of them scored double points. 

Damarco “Polo” Minor was essential to this, scoring his first double-double, marking 10 assists with 11 points. Josiah Lake II and Nate Kingz were also major components of the night for the Beavers, scoring 16 and 13 points, respectively, a season-high for Lake II.

Polo was supportive of Lake II, saying that, “He makes my life easier and vice versa, so you know, just being out there and make the game easier.” 

With just two minutes left in the game, Lake II made a fast break to a leaping one-handed dunk to raucous cheering from the crowd. That wasn’t all for the Beavers, as Liutauras Lelevicius made a three-pointer to finish their scoring for the night.

The Beavers have one remaining home game out of their four remaining in the regular season.

“We’re going to put the work in, we’re already doing it,” Isaiah Sy said. “We’re going to step up and it’s just going to change. We haven’t been doing great on the road since the Pacific game and it’s going to change from now on.”

The Beavers next take on Pepperdine for the second time this season on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Malibu, California.