Beavers win a thriller
February 05, 2016 | Men's Basketball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Freshman guard Stephen Thompson Jr. made three free throws with one-tenth of a second to play on Thursday, capping an incredible comeback and giving Oregon State a 71-69 victory over Utah at Gill Coliseum.
The Beavers (13-8, 4-6 Pac-12) trailed 60-50 with 7:44 remaining before Thompson Jr. sparked a rally by scoring all 13 of his points in that span. He had a 3-pointer, a conventional 3-point play, and was 5-for-5 on his other free throws to help OSU snap a two-game tailspin.
Thompson was fouled by Brandon Taylor just past half-court after he jumped in an attempt to draw contact from the airborne defender. After a lengthy break to determine how much time was remaining, he stepped to the line and swished all three foul shots.
“I saw [Taylor] had jumped in the air before I shot and I tried to draw contact,” Thompson said. “There definitely was contact.
“The team and coach [Wayne] Tinkle did a good job of keeping me calm” while the officials sorted out the game clock, added Thompson, a 64 percent free-throw shooter (21-33) entering the game. “That was a big key to me knocking them down.
“It definitely was exciting. We did a job as a team fighting back. I had been struggling from the field a little bit but I just tried to stay confident and aggressive.”
The final minutes had the crowd of 5,242 on their feet and roaring. A 7-0 run drew the Beavers within 60-57 with 6:29 to play, and they erased a 63-59 deficit in the final five minutes by holding the Utes (17-6, 6-4) to one basket in the closing 7:44.
Thompson Jr. drained a 3-pointer to make it 63-62 with 2:22 remaining. The Utes missed two shots and Thompson swished a short floater to give the Beavers a 64-63 lead, their first since early in the second half.
After a Utah turnover, senior guard Gary Payton II hit a layup with 1:04 left for a 66-63 advantage. Utah tied the game on a 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining, but senior forward Jarmal Reid got free for a layup with 16 seconds to play for a 68-66 lead.
However, Reid fouled Jordan Loveridge on a 3-point attempt just in front of the Utah bench with 2.2 seconds left. He made all three of his free throws to put Utah on top 69-68, setting up the remarkable finish.
Payton emerged from a two-game offensive slump and had 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists. He had scored just 11 points in his last two games. His seven assists gave him 35 in his last five games.
Reid and senior forward Olaf Schaftenaar added eight points apiece and freshman forward Tres Tinkle had five points and seven rebounds.
Coach Tinkle said OSU did a great job of sticking together and staying mentally tough after squandering a 35-31 halftime lead and falling behind by 10 points.
“I have tremendous pride in our guys,” he said. “With our back to the wall we responded against a well-coached ant talented team that had won five games in a row.
“We said tonight we are going to close. We executed offensively and defensively in the last seven minutes better than we did in the entire game.
“This was good for our guys to gut one out and get momentum going into the weekend.”
The Beavers resume Pac-12 action against Colorado at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
Fans can purchase OSU men's basketball season tickets and single-game tickets by visiting this link or by calling 800-GO-BEAVS.
