Box Score Beavers Hold off Pilots 79-73 at Gill Coliseum

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CORVALLIS, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots overcame an early 12-point deficit to tie the game late in regulation, but the Oregon State Beavers rode a pair of Roberto Nelson three-pointers in the closing minutes to pull out a 79-73 victory Wednesday night at Gill Coliseum. Junior guard Bobby Sharp had a game-high 18 points and senior forward Ryan Nicholas added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Pilots.

Nelson finished with a game-high 24 points, including back-to-back three-pointers to give the Beavers (1-1) a 75-68 edge with 2:15 remaining. A Kevin Bailey free throw made it 75-71 and a Sharp jumper cut it to 77-73 with 14.1 seconds remaining, but Nelson iced it with a breakaway layup for the final score.

Points off of turnovers were critical in the outcome, as both teams finished with 15 turnovers but the Beavers were able to gain a 25-14 margin in points off of turnovers. After a Nicholas jumper tied it at 59-59, Hallice Cooke picked up a pair of steals and runout layups to give OSU the lead for good.

Nicholas picked up his first double-double of the season with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Bailey added 12 points and five assists.

Junior transfer Volodymyr Gerun had a big second half with nine straight points for Portland to cut the deficit to 49-48 with 12:40 remaining.  Sharp, another transfer, drilled 5-of-11 from three-point range and added three rebounds and two assists with zero turnovers.

The Pilots (1-1) shot 42 percent from the field and made 9-of-23 three-pointers. OSU finished at 55 percent from the field, but 3-for-13 from beyond the arc.

Despite being outrebounded by a 40-32 margin, the Pilots gained a 17-8 edge in second chance points.

Portland had an early 5-0 lead, but a dry spell and some costly turnovers led to an OSU 20-10 margin. The Beavers led by as much as 12 points late in the first half before back-to-back buckets from Riley Barker made it 41-33 at the break.

The Pilots will return to the court for a tough road matchup at No. 2 Michigan State on Monday at 4 p.m. (PT). The Spartans (2-0) are expected to be ranked No. 1 nationally when the new polls come out after knocking off current No. 1 Kentucky earlier this week. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network and on the radio at Sports 910 with a 30-minute pregame show.