Oregon State Men's Basketball: Beavers Dominate Sacramento State in 82-45 Win
Oregon State basketball's hot streak continued Tuesday night, as the Beavers routed Sacramento State 82-45 for their fourth consecutive win. The Beavers record improved to 8-2 after the dominant win.
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Tuesday's game started close. Nate Kingz gave the Beavers an early lead when he hit a three for the first points of the night, but layups from Emil Skytta and Jacob Holt put Sacramento State briefly in front. The teams would trade the lead back and forth for a few minutes, but starting at the 16 minute mark Oregon State's defense shut the Hornets down.
Sac State went on a nearly seven minute scoring drought that allowed the Beavers to build a 12 point lead. The Hornets could not find an open shot in the key, and even when they got an open look from the three point line they couldn't hit their shots.
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EJ Neal finally got the Hornets back to scoring after an OSU turnover, and it was the Beavers turn to go on a bit of a scoreless run. It didn't last long ,with Michael Rataj hitting a jumper to kick start the Oregon State offense. The Beavers couldn't pull away however, and finished the first half up 10, 30-20.
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Sacramento State kept the lead around 10 early in the second half, and even narrowed it to five at one point, but one offense was about to explode and it wasn't the Hornets. Michael Rataj led the way for the Beavers, with a 17 point second half, going 5 for 6 from the field and 6 for 6 from the free throw line, while the team as a whole scored 52 in the back half of the game.
Combined with the OSU defense continuing to throttle Sacramento State's offense, the Beavers outscored the Hornets 52-25 in the second half for an 82-45 final score. A nearly 40 point victory.
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Rataj was the star of the show, with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Liutaurus Lelevicius had another solid game, and was a big part of the Beavers building an early lead in the first half. He finished the night with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. nate Kingz also hit double digits, with 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
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Up next for the Beavers is a trip to Hawaii to participate in the Diamond Head Classic. On Sunday, December 22ndthe Beavers will take on Charleston, and the following day they'll face either Loyola Chicago or Oakland. The first game will be aired on ESPN2, with tip off set for 12 PM.
Having grown up in Pocatello, home of the Idaho State Bengals, John Severs is a lifelong fan of small schools that don't always deliver a lot of wins. Prior to writing for Sports Illustrated, John covered the Beavers for SB Nation's Oregon State blog Building the Dam, with a focus on baseball and women's basketball. When he's not watching college sports he spends most of his time reading, playing video games and annoying cats.