Eric Reveno

CORVALLIS, Ore. --- The Oregon State Beavers battled back from a first-half deficit to defeat the Portland Pilots 67-57 in a non-conference men’s basketball game at Gill Coliseum on Sunday. Freshman guard Jared Stohl scored a team-high 13 points for the Pilots, who drop to 2-4 on the season.

Trailing by one at the break, Oregon State outscored Portland 17-11 to begin the second half and take a 43-38 lead. Sophomore Robin Smeulders then fueled a UP spurt with a lay-up and a three-pointer to give the lead back to Portland at 45-44 with 9:03 showing on the clock.

OSU answered by scoring 10 straight points to take a 54-45 lead with 4:30 left in the game. The Beavs would then hold on for the win.

Roeland Schaftenaar and Sean Carter each scored a game-high 15 points to lead Oregon State, which improves to 3-2 this season. The Beavs shot just 37.7 percent (30-for-53) from the floor, but outscored Portland 22-4 at the free throw line.

Portland also turned the ball over 27 times to just 13 for Oregon State.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves with 27 turnovers,” UP head coach Eric Reveno said. “To go on the road and beat an athletic team like Oregon State is tough.”

Seth and Josh Tarver each added 12 for the Beavers.

Stohl was one of four Pilots to score in double figures. Senior Sherrard Watson and freshman Luke Sikma each scored 11, while sophomore Nik Raivio finished with 10. Sikma just missed a double-double for the second straight game finishing with nine rebounds.

Portland shot a season-high 50 percent (23-for-46) for the game, but went just four-for-nine from the charity stripe. The Pilots hit seven of 16 from behind the three-point arc and outrebounded the Beavers 34-28.

Oregon State raced out to a 6-2 lead to begin the game, but Portland responded with a 15-5 run to make it 17-11 10:00 into the first half. UP took its first lead when Stohl converted a traditional three-point play to give the Pilots a 6-5 advantage. Stohl hit a lay-up deep in the lane while getting hacked. Raivio also hit a three-pointer during the run.

After Oregon State tied it up at 22-22, Sikma buried a three to give the lead back to Portland with 6:30 left in the half. Both teams then went scoreless during the next five-plus minutes as UP maintained a 25-22 lead. The Pilots entered the locker room with a 27-26 advantage. Stohl had a team-high eight points at the break, while Sikma had seven.

Portland was without sophomore point guard Taishi Ito for the second straight game. Ito returned to his home in Japan on Friday after his father passed away on Thanksgiving Day after a long battle with a brain tumor. There is no timetable set for his return to the team.

The Pilots next return home to host cross-town rival Portland State on Wednesday night at the Chiles Center. The Pilots and Vikings are set to tip off at 7:00 p.m.