Oregon State
Cal Poly
Beavers Blast Mustangs
December 02, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Dec 2, 2002
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Philip Ricci scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Oregon State defeated Cal-Poly 81-60 Monday night at Gill Coliseum.
The Mustangs (0-2) were led by Varnie Dennis with 24 points. Steve Geary had 12 points and Jason Allen had 11.
Jimmie Haywood added 20 points for the Beavers (2-1).
Dennis, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, carried the load early for the Mustangs, scoring 17 of their first 22 points.
The Beavers twice threatened to pull away in the first half when OSU went on a 9-2 run with the game tied at 10-10. But Geary and Dennis hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Mustangs close.
Cal-Poly was down 11 points at 41-30 when Geary hit another trey to get the Mustangs back within single digits. Still, OSU took a 42-33 lead into halftime.
The Mustangs came back in the second half, scoring 10 points in the first three minutes and cutting OSUs lead to 45-43. But with Dennis on the bench after getting his fourth foul, Cal-Poly went cold, scoring just seven points in the next 9:30 minutes.
Led by Floyd North II with nine, OSU out-rebounded the Mustangs 38-25. Floyd North III led the Beavers with nine boards, followed by Riccis eight. J.S. Nash had eight assists to lead Oregon State.
