Oregon State
California
Beavers' Rally Falls Short At Cal, 70-68
February 10, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2000
By DENNIS GEORGATOS
AP Sports Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP)
- Donte Smith scored 19 points, making five of six 3-point attempts, and California held off Oregon State's late rally for a 70-68 win Thursday night.The Golden Bears nearly blew a 10-point lead in the final 1:12, and needed a huge defensive play from Brian Wethers to preserve the victory. The Cal freshman knocked the ball out of Josh Steinthal's hands as time expired, denying his bid for a game-winning 3-pointer.
Sean Lampley and Nick Vander Laan added 11 points apiece for Cal (14-8, 5-5 Pac-10), which has gone 5-2 in league play since an 0-3 start. The win extends Cal's momentum from last weekend's wins over Southern Cal and UCLA, its first sweep at the Los Angeles schools in five years.
Deaundra Tanner's 19 points led Oregon State (10-11, 2-8), which suffered its fifth straight loss. Ramunas Petraitis added 12 points and Brian Jackson had 11.
Leading by 16 at the break, Cal saw its lead dwindle to 36-28 when Tanner made a 3-pointer with 14:11 remaining.
Joe Shipp got the Bears back on track, hitting a 12-foot baseline jumper to ignite a 14-2 run that put Cal up 48-30 with 10:41 left.
Smith hit two of his 3-pointers in the flurry and Solomon Hughes had a putback to help keep it going.
The Beavers were still trailing by 10 in the late going but they made one more push, pulling to 64-57 on Steinthal's 3-pointer with 1:12 to play.
Cal missed five of seven free throws while Jackson had a putback and Tanner and Petraitis each hit 3-pointers to pull the Beavers to 67-65.
Shantay Legans was fouled and made both free throws but Jimmie Haywood made a 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds left, pulling the Beavers to 69-68. Lampley was fouled and made one of two free throws but Oregon State never got its last shot away because of Wethers' defensive jab.
Oregon State missed its first eight 3-point tries and shot just 22 percent from the field in the first half, falling behind Cal 30-14.
The Beavers pulled to 17-12 on a jumper by Tanner but Smith then drained a 3-pointer, triggering a 13-2 run for Cal over the last 5:46 of the period. The Beavers barely got a shot off in that span, turning the ball over five times in seven possessions.
