Beavers Mount Furious Comeback, Defeat North Texas
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The Oregon State Beavers rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit on Wednesday night to stun visiting North Texas 66-64, avenging last year’s road defeat to the Mean Green.
The Beavers, who had been trailing by double digits for most of the night, found a spark in the final couple of minutes after Johan Munch stole an inbounds pass and proceeded to fly down the court for an and-one dunk. This cut the UNT lead to 64-60 with 1:48 to play.
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After forcing a stop on the following North Texas possession, OSU came down the floor looking to make it a one-score game. They got it into the hands of sophomore Keziah Ekissi, who drove right side and finished with a six-foot floater off the backboard, cutting the deficit to just two.
Oregon State got the ball back with 20 seconds left and a chance to tie or take the lead. Johan Munch, recognizing a size mismatch, took it hard to the rim but was unable to finish, and the Beavers were forced to foul with just nine seconds left on the clock and UNT still leading by two.
Then, the Beavers caught a break when Will McClendon, who came into the game shooting 90% at the foul line this season, missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving Oregon State one last chance.
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With time winding down, Josiah Lake took it inside and looked to kick it out to a three-point shooter, but Lake was fouled underneath. The former walk-on from Tualatin high school buried both free throws, tying the game at 64 with 3.6 left to play in regulation.
This is when disaster struck for North Texas. After inbounding the ball and quickly getting it into the frontcourt, a Mean Green guard attempted to call timeout. The only problem was, the team didn’t have any remaining. This resulted in a technical foul, and two free throws for Oregon State. Josiah Lake stepped back up to the line and drained both, sealing a thrilling and bizarre comeback victory for Oregon State.
Oregon State improves to 3-0 and await a challenge against the Oregon Ducks in Eugene on Monday, November 17.
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Ben Pahl is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. His work covering college and professional sports has been featured by the Orange Media Network at Oregon State University as well as KBVR.fm. His other career stops in sports include the Portland Pickles baseball club and the NBA G-League's Rip City Remix.