Oregon State Basketball to Host Exhibition Game Saturday at Gill Coliseum
On Saturday, fans will get their first taste of Oregon State basketball as the Beavers will take on Montana State-Billings at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis for an exhibition matchup. The event will be free for all fans who want to attend, and the game tips at 7 P.M. Pacific. The game will not be broadcast on television or radio.
Oregon State's starting lineup will likely be Josiah Lake, DaMarco Minor, Michael Rataj, Parsa Fallah, and Matthew Marsh. Mixed into this group will be DaJohn Craig, Nate Kingz, Isiah Sy, and Thomas Ndong.
Lake is one of few returners on this squad, who averaged 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists last season in 15.2 minutes per game. Minor, a transfer from SIU-Edwardsville who led his team in scoring and rebounding last season despite being just 6-foot-1, has potential to be this team's leading scorer as well and will bring a brand of toughness that the Beavers need in attacking the glass.
Rataj, another returner and a leader on the team, will start likely at the wing spot and alternate between that and power forward. Fallah, a transfer from Southern Utah, is a highly-touted forward that can score on the block using a flurry of post moves and touch inside. He averaged 13.2 points per game last season as well as 6.0 rebounds for the Thunderbirds.
Matthew Marsh, a transfer from Wake Forest, is a 6-foot-11, 250-pound center that will help to protect the rim and rebound. His physical presence will aid in clogging up the paint for opposing offenses and prevent easy shots at the rim.
Off the bench, the Beavers will have DaJohn Craig, who played in 15 games for Oregon State last year and averaged 2.7 points per game. Nate Kingz is returning from injury last season, but should be fully good to go for the exhibition. Isaiah Sy, a junior college transfer who shot the lights out in his last year of NJCAA basketball, will play wing and be a sniper on the outside for the Beavers this season.
Finally, Thomas Ndong, a sophomore returner, will play some backup minutes at the big spots, either power forward or center. He scored 38 points and recorded 41 rebounds over the course of last season, and should provide some depth for Oregon State.
The Beavers tip off their regular season on Monday, Novemeber 4 against Utah Tech.
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Keenan Womack is a sportswriter native to Dallas, Texas, who has spent the last 12 years in Austin, the home of his alma mater, the University of Texas. Keenan has covered sports for SB Nation, Bleacher Report, Rivals/Orangebloods, a host of his own sites and now, Fan Nation. Focusing on basketball, Keenan was on the beat for the Longhorns hoops team for the last two-and-a-half years before moving on to pursue other opportunities. He is married and lives with his wife close to the Moody Center, so they can continue to catch games together.