Cal Defeats Oregon State in OT, 84-80

The Bears came out hot in overtime.

Photo: OSU Athletics

BERKELEY, Calif. - By: The Associated Press

Courtesy: OSU Athletics

Freshman forward Patrick Christopher scored 24 points to lead California to an 84-80 overtime victory against Oregon State on Saturday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.

The game almost ended in a 71-68 Cal victory as the buzzer sounded.

But OSU (10-18, 2-13) was given another 2.3 seconds when the officials decided the clock had started early on the Beavers' final possession.

Cal (14-12, 6-8) deflected the Beavers' first inbounds pass, giving OSU just 1.4 seconds.

But Angelo Tsagarakis caught the next inbounds pass and let a 3-pointer fly just before the buzzer sounded to tie the game and set up the OT.

The Bears came out hot in overtime.

A Christopher lay-up was the finale of a 6-point spurt that opened the OT.

Oregon State's Sasa Cuic cut the lead in half with a long 3-pointer, but Ayinde Ubaka put Cal up by five with a pair of free throws.

Tsagarakis hit a bucket, but Christopher answered that with a free throw and a follow.

Oregon State got within 82-80 on Marcel Jones' two free throws with 10 seconds left. But Christopher sealed it with two more free throws.

Ubaka and Theo Robertston each scored 21 for Cal.

Jack McGillis, whose 3-point shooting enabled OSU to cut into a 13-point Cal lead in the second half, led the Beavers with a career-high 24 points with five three-pointers.

The Bears had come from a halftime deficit to take a double-digit lead before Oregon State rallied to tie the score 58-58.

McGillis had pulled the Beavers even when he hit a 3-pointer with 5:05 left in regulation.

It was 60-60 when Christopher, who was averaging just 4.6 points per game coming in, dropped in a short jumper.

Ayinde Ubaka's basket gave Cal a four-point lead, but Roeland Schaftenaar buried a wide open trey to cut the lead to one.

The Bears would build the lead to five, seemingly putting it out of reach, before Sasa Cuic hit yet another OSU trey to make the score 70-68.

When Robertson missed one of his two free throws OSU had a chance.

They apparently missed the chance when Robertson blocked OSU's last shot and the buzzer went off when the teams were scrambling for the ball.

However, given their second chance the Beavers came through.

California seemed to have the game in hand midway in the second half.

The Bears went on a 12-0 run early in the period and gradually built the lead from there.

With the Bears trailing 29-26, Ubaka knocked down consecutive 3-pointers and Omar Wilkes hit two free throws to make it 38-29 Cal. The lead would grow to 45-32 when Robertson hit a 3-pointer at 12:38.

But OSU rallied and set up the wild finish.

The Beavers led by as many as six in the first half before Cal, doing most of the work at the free throw line, chopped the margin to one at the intermission.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports