Oregon State
Far West Classic Invite: Tulsa vs. Oregon State
Beavers Battle Back To Take Down Tulsa
December 20, 2015 | Men's Basketball
PORTLAND, Ore. – Senior guard Gary Payton II scored 19 points and Oregon State rallied to defeat Tulsa 76-71 on Saturday night to sweep its two games at the Far West Classic Invite at the Moda Center.
The Beavers (8-2) erased a 10-point, first-half deficit to top the Golden Hurricane (7-4), expected to be a title contender in the American Athletic Conference. They defeated Cal State-Fullerton 82-69 on Friday night in their Far West Classic Invite opener.
Payton II added seven rebounds, six assists, a blocked shot and a steal as the Beavers won their second game in two nights, against a rested opponent who had not played since Dec. 14. He finished the tourney with 38 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Senior guard Langston Morris-Walker and senior forward Olaf Schaftenaar added 11 points apiece and freshman forward Tres Tinkle had nine points and six rebounds for the Beavers.
“It was a good test for our guys to see how we would respond,” after playing just 24 hours before, assistant coach Gregg Gottlieb said. “Good players like to be challenged. We reached down and when the game was on the line we pulled through.”
OSU led 66-65 with just over four minutes remaining. Morris-Walker then hit his third 3-pointer of the second half, off an assist by Payton II, for a 69-65 advantage with 3:01 to play. Schaftenaar added another 3-pointer with 48 seconds left for a 72-65 edge and OSU hit 4 of 6 free throws in the final 32 seconds to close it out.
The Beavers had just two second-half turnovers while outscoring Tulsa 48-37 in the final 20 minutes.
“In the first half Tulsa gave us trouble with their defensive concepts,” Gottlieb said. “We were able to adjust late in the first half, and in the second half we were more comfortable.
“We made some stops, got out in the open floor and made some plays. It started when Langston hit some big shots,” two 3-pointers early in the second half. “That was an all-in victory.”
Saturday's crowd of 8,555 raised the two-day attendance to 16,587 in the first rendition of the Far West Classic Invite.
The Beavers were 25 of 31 overall from the foul line and Morris-Walker and Schaftenaar each buried three of their four 3-point shots. They also outrebounded Tulsa 38-32.
“We are getting the right guys shooting and the guys are developing confidence from the foul line,” Gottlieb said. “Some of the young guys are getting comfortable at the line.”
The Beavers opened the second half with three 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half to draw within 46-45 at the 15-minute mark. They took the lead, 58-57, on two free throws by senior forward Jarmal Reid with 10:11 remaining, and would not trail again.
OSU never led in the first half and trailed by as many as 10 points, 34-24, with less than a minute remaining. However, it scored four points in the final 33 seconds to trim Tulsa's lead to 34-28 at the break.
The Beavers return to action on Monday when they host Quinnipiac of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in their final nonconference game of the season. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and it will be televised by Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Oregon.
