Men's Basketball Hosts AIA and Chicago State
December 9, 1998
Corvallis, Ore. -
THE SCHEDULE: Oregon State (3-1) hosts Athletes-Actions Blue Team (6-6) in an exhibition game at Ralph Miller Court in Gill Coliseum at 7:37 p.m. Dec. 13. The team will then return to regular season action hosting the Chicago State Cougars (1-5) of the Mid-Continent Conference Dec. 17 at 7:07 p.m. The game will mark the first for the Cougars since a 80-38 loss to DePaul Dec. 1.
ABOUT AIA: Athletes-In-Action plays at Louisville Dec. 12 before traveling to Corvallis. The team has not played since its 90-81 victory over Northern Kentucky Nov. 12. The Blue Team opened its schedule with a win over Lee University (115-95), Oct. 24. The team has also posted victories over Walsh University of Ohio (93-67), Georgia Tech (84-73), Wisconsin-Green Bay (71-64), and Wright State (91-65). Its losses have been to Temple (80-59), Wisconsin (81-70), Dayton (99-86), Miami of Ohio (86-74), Georgia (90-75), and Xavier (93-90).
OSU VS. CHICAGO STATE: Oregon State is 1-0 vs. Chicago State, defeating the Cougars 79-52 Feb. 8, 1987 at Gill Coliseum. The Cougars also participated in the 1988 Far West Classic, where they were 1-2. Oregon State has played only two other schools from the Mid-Continent Conference, posting a 1-0 record vs. Western Illinois and 1-1 vs. Oral Roberts.
TENTATIVE STARTERS: ATHLETES-IN-ACTION (6-6 at press time) F-22 David Shivers, 6-5, 2nd Yr, SMU 93 F-40 Jason Taylor, 6-6, 7th Yr, Chico State 92 C-42 Casey Shaw, 6-11, 1st Yr, Toledo 98 G-15 David Daniels, 5-10, 6th Yr, Colorado Christian 93 G-12 Landon Hackim, 5-10, 2nd Yr, Miami (OH) 96STREAKS: Oregon State has won all three of its non-conference games at home this season, and has a nine-game non-conference home winning streak.CHICAGO STATE (1-5) F--44 Demont Payton, 6-6, Sr., 3.3 pts, 3.7 reb F--34 Derrick Bolton, 6-6, Jr., 4.4 pts, 4.0 reb C--13 Federico Carlotta, 6-8, So., 1.7 pts, 4.0 reb G--3 Marques Buford, 6-3, Jr., 8.4 pts, 4.0 reb G--11 Jermaine Hicks, 5-6, Jr., 14.2 pts, 3.2 ast
OREGON STATE (3-1) F-12 Sasa Petrovic, 6-10, Sr., 2.8 pts, 1.0 reb F-34 Iyan Walker, 6-7, Jr., 8.0 pts, 5.5 reb C-54 George von Backstrom, 7-0, Jr., 6.0 pts, 4.5 reb G- 4 Deaundra Tanner, 6-2, So., 17.0 pts, 7.0 reb G-31 Ramunas Petraitis, 6-3, Jr., 5.5 pts, 5.3 reb
SWISH: Oregon State is hoping to hear that sound a little more, but the team has improved to .410 for the season thanks to a .521 effort vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The .410 percentage is eighth in the Pac-10 Conference. Two individuals, Jason Heide (567) and Iyan Walker (.611), are shooting better than 47 percent.
CLEANING THE WINDOWS: Oregon State enters game five of the season with a rebounding margin of plus-7.0 (4th in the Pac-10). The Beavers are averaging 43.5 boards per game -- second in the conference. Last season OSU finished the year on the plus side for rebounding (+1.6/35.7 pg) for the first time since the 1984-85 season.
TIGHTENING THE SCREWS: Oregon States opponents are hitting just .358 from the field for the season, which ranks first in the Pac-10 and tied for 11th in the nation for field goal percentage defense. The Beavers opponents are averaging 60.8 points, second in the conference for scoring defense.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB: Ramunas Petraitis became the first Beaver to score a double-double this season with his 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. UC Irvine. Deaundra Tanner had a triple double (10 pts, 10 reb, 10 ast) vs. Costa Rica in an exhibition game, however it is not official.
BEAVERS PICKED 10TH? Media from around the West Coast have selected Oregon State 10th in the preseason Pac-10 media poll. Stanford received 36 of the possible 37 first place votes, followed by Arizona, Washington, UCLA, California (1 vote), Arizona State and Oregon tied for 6th; USC, Washington State, and Oregon State.
EDDIE PAYNE: Head Coach Eddie Payne is in his fourth year at Oregon State and has a record of 29-60. He now has an overall record of 188-168. Payne has previously been the Head Coach at Truett-McConnell Junior College in Cleveland, Georgia; Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., and at East Carolina University. His teams at Belmont Abbey posted a mark of 103-51 in five seasons; and in four seasons at ECU he was 70-72. Payne has also been an assistant coach at South Carolina, East Carolina and Clemson. His four-year institution season-by-season record follows: 1982 at B.A. (17-10); 1983 at B.A. (15-14); 1984 at B.A. (26-11); 1985 at B.A. (21-10); 1986 at B.A. (24-6); 1992 at ECU (10-18); 1993 at ECU (13-17); 1994 at ECU (15-12); 1995 at ECU (18-11); 1996 at OSU (6-21); 1997 at OSU (7-20); 1998 at OSU (13-17).
"I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU:" Beaver mens player Ramunas Petraitis and womens player Reda Kakernaite are engaged. The two juniors plan to wait until their college careers are over before being married.
WALK THIS WAY: Head Coach Eddie Payne added walk-ons Josiah Lake of Salem, Ore., and Jeremiah Dodrill of Bandon, Ore., shortly after the first official day of practice. Lake is a 61" junior guard and Dodrill is a 66" sophomore forward.
INJURY REPORT: Oregon State junior guard Ramunas Petraitis suffered a moderate left ankle sprain vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He is listed as day-to-day.
TANNER TALES: Sophomore guard Deaundra Tanner is a postseason honors candidate...he has scored in double figures in nine of his last 11 regular season games, and 10 of the last 13...over the last 11 games he has averaged 17.2 points and 5.5 rebounds...he tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the exhibition game vs. Costa Rica, although unofficial, it was the first triple-double by a Beaver since Gary Payton Nov. 26, 1988...he has played 30 or more minutes in 12 consecutive regular season games...scored a season-high 23 points vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the second most for his career and fifth time for his career he has tallied 20 or more points...scored 21 points vs. UC Irvine...averaging a team-high 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game...he is tied for fourth in the Pac-10 for scoring, seventh for rebounding and tied for seventh for assists...the only Beaver to be average over 30 minutes per game this season...member of the 1998 Pacific-10 Conference All-Freshmen Team.
BIG GEORGE: Junior center George von Backstrom is averaging 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds for the season...has hit 10 of 11 free throw attempts for a percentage of .909...scored a career-high 12 points vs. UC Irvine and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds vs. Idaho State.
WALKERS WAYS: Junior forward Iyan Walker is off to his best start of his college career, after struggling with injuries over the last three years...Walker is averaging 8.0 points and 5.5 rebounds for the season, and tallied 13 points vs. UC Irvine...the 13 points match his career best and is only the eighth time he has hit double figures for scoring in one game...he pulled down a career-best seven rebounds vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff...shooting .611 from the field, the best for the team.
JOSHS JABS: Sophomore guard Josh Steinthal is averaging 8.0 points and 3.3 rebounds...one of the teams better shooters, who may have worked out of his shooting slump vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, hitting some key shots in a 5-for-13 effort...for the season he has connected on 11 of 42 (.262)...scored 12 points in the season opener vs. Idaho State and against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
HEIDES HYPE: Sophomore forward/center Jason Heide has come off the bench to average 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds...tallied a career-high 18 points to go with his nine rebounds vs. Colorado State...over the last two games he has averaged 15.0 points and 7.0 rebounds...shooting .567 (17-30) from the field, second for the team and tied for fifth in the Pac-10 Conference.
PETRAITIS PARTICULARS: Junior guard Ramunas Petraitis scored a double-double vs. UC Irvine (12 pts, 10 reb)...possibly the strongest and most physical player on the team...averaging 5.5 points per game...suffered a sprained left ankle in the first half vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
CLIFF NOTES: Junior forward Clifton Jones is averaging 3.8 points and 5.3 rebounds for the season...the best jumper on the team...good around the glass...grabbed eight rebounds vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Idaho State...knack for keeping the ball alive.
SASAS STATS: Senior forward Sasa Petrovic is averaging 2.8 points...the most experienced player on the team with 74 games played...a good shooter who is playing with more confidence this season.
ADAMS ANTICS: Freshman guard Adam Masten has played in every game...averaging 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds...playing time should increase as his experience does...averaging 16.5 minutes per game.
SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE: The Beavers received three national letters of intent during the week-long fall signing period, which ended Nov. 18. Brian Jackson and Mike Cokley, both of Knappa High School in Knappa, Ore., and Jimmy Haywood of Franklin High School in Seattle will join the club next fall. Jackson is a 610 forward who has a 21.2 career scoring average and is a member of the Orange County Registers "Fab 15." Cokley is a 510 guard who averaged 15 points, seven assists and five steals last season. Haywood is a 62" guard who averaged 14.5 points last season and is a member of the "Fab 15" second team. The Beavers have two scholarships to award, during the late signing period runs from April 7 to May 15.
