Oregon State Grounds Golden Eagles

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Olaf Schaftenaar scored a career-high 12 points as Oregon State won a hard-fought contest over Oral Roberts, 55-42, on Friday night in front of 4,022 fans at Gill Coliseum.

The win marked the second time in the past 14 years that the Beavers have started a season 3-0.

Oregon State held Oral Roberts (1-2) to a mere 20.9 percent shooting in the contest and took advantage of its height with a 34-6 domination on points in the paint.

“I’m super proud of our guys," Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle said. "That was just a gutty, gutty performance. It was kind of like one of the old heavyweight championship fights, from the old days, where it just goes on for 25 rounds.

"It wasn’t a thing of beauty, I’m sure they probably said the same thing. I was proud for their effort, number one, and the way that they showed resiliency through a couple of tough times each half. All in all, it was a great team effort. When you look up and down the stat sheet, it was total team win against a pretty physical and athletic team.”

Schaftenaar was efficient for Oregon State, converting on 4-of-5 from the field, 2-of-3 from long range and grabbing three boards on the night.

Gary Payton II was a crowd favorite, rising high above the rim on multiple occasions and finishing the night with 10 points after a 5-for-11 shooting performance. He also added three rebounds and four steals for OSU.

Cheikh N'diaye was huge in the second half, scoring six of the first eight points in the stanza, as he utilized his 7-foot frame to collect a pair of buckets inside and make a pair of free throws to help put the Beavers ahead for the rest of the contest. He finished with career-bests in points and rebounds, with eight and six, respectively. 

Bobby Word let Oral Roberts with 11 points (2-for-7), three rebounds and one assist. Korey Billbury tallied 10 points for the Golden Eagles, hitting 3-of-11 shots and contributing four rebounds and two assists.

For the third straight game, Oregon State got on the board with a 3-ball, this time from Schaftenaar as he banged a triple from atop the arc a minute into the first period. The Beavs would jump out to an early 10-0 lead at the 14:18 mark after forcing seven turnovers on each of Oral Roberts’ possessions.

The Golden Eagles would fight back, going on an 8-0 run of strictly free-throws midway through the first, which brought them within one, 12-11, with nine minutes remaining in the stanza.

ORU would capture its first lead at the 6:11 mark, but Oregon State kept attacking the rim, and applying defensive pressure, which allowed the Beavers to grab ahold of a 17-16 advantage with 2:43 to play in the opening half.

Oral Roberts took a 20-18 lead into the locker room at the intermission, despite shooting 16.7 percent from the field (3-for-18) in the first 20 minutes of play. The Golden Eagles capitalized on free throws in the opening period, hitting 13-of-18 attempts from the stripe.    

Oregon State would not stay down long in the final frame, going on a 12-0 run to give OSU a 30-20 lead after Payton II threw down an alley-oop from Langston Morris-Walker with just over 15 minutes left to play.

An 8-0 Golden Eagles run brought the score to 42-37 with 5:20 remaining, but OSU would embark on a 6-0 run highlighted by a Schaftenaar three from the corner with 4:30 to go, pushing Oregon State to a 48-37 edge. Down the stretch, the Beavs limited Oral Roberts’ opportunities offensively and were able to pull away late to secure the victory.

Coming up, the Beavers are off to Las Vegas, Nev. to participate in the MGM Grand Main Event, facing off with Oklahoma State on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in a game televised on ESPN 3.

Oregon State is offering an exclusive #Commit2Wayne ticket plan that provides fans with season tickets for a flat $199 (tickets were $364 last season). The price will gradually step up the following seasons ($249, $299, $349) but remain affordable, and there is no obligation to commit to all four years.

Season tickets will be $349 next year and beyond for fans who do not take advantage of this unique opportunity this year. Fans can secure their season tickets for a $25 deposit by calling 800-GO-BEAVS or visiting beavertickets.com.