Beavs MBB Find New Low in Loss to Portland

This should have been a slam dunk win for the Beavs.

A sleepy away game at Portland where most of the crowd inside the Chiles Center was wearing Orange, against a Pilots team that just came off a 47-point loss to Santa Clara in the same building. Instead it was a nightmare for Oregon State as they suffered their worst loss of the season behind lackluster defense.

It was the first time Portland had beaten the Beavs at the Chiles Center since the 2005-2006 season. With the 84-72 loss, Oregon State (17-9 overall, 7-6 in WCC play) are now 1 1/2 games behind fourth-place Santa Clara with five games to go left in conference play. The loss doesn't mathematically kill the Beavs' chances at receiving an auto bid to the WCC tournament quarterfinals, but it makes the road there much more grueling.

It was announced before the game that Isaiah Sy would be starting over Demarco Minor. It was a massive opportunity for the sophomore to claim a starting role and keep it down the stretch. Sy and Minor would end the game both with 6 points each, with Minor outrebounding Sy by 4 and tacking on 5 assists to Sy's 0. Michael Rataj once again led all Beavs scorers with 22 points and 5 rebounds, the big man Parsa Fallah finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds on 6-10 shooting.

Scoring wasn't the issue primary Thursday night in Portland for Oregon State - it was the Beavers' defense.

Portland had 5 different players in double digits, with Austin Rapp leading the way for all Pilots with 24 points with 15 of those coming from beyond the arc. Max Mackinnon chipped in with 17 of his own while Bol Dengdit and Vukasin Masic added 11 points apiece. Portland was able to capitalize on 14 Oregon State turnovers to improve to 9-17 Overall and 4-9 in conference play.

Portland found themselves with a 13-9 lead in the first half thanks to an 8-2 run that included two 3 pointers from Dengdit. The Portland lead ballooned to 34-23 with a few minutes left in the first half before the Beavs finally woke up and cut the halftime deficit to 4.

Oregon State kept it close for most of the second half with Fallah having a sequence of 5 straight points to put the Beavs within striking distance before the Pilots pulled away thanks to Max Mackinnon. Oregon State is now 14-2 when playing in Corvallis and 1-7 when away from the friendly confines at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers will look to bounce back Saturday when they take on Pacific at home. Oregon State defeated Pacific the last time they met in Stockton 91-55.

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