Oregon State
San Diego
Beavers Ride Strong Shooting In Vegas To Post Fifth Straight Win
December 22, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2012
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Eric Moreland had a career-high 20 points and Oregon State shot a season-best 59.2 percent from the field to defeat San Diego, 86-79, Saturday night in the first-ever basketball game played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Beavers (9-2) have won five consecutive games, their longest winning streak since reeling off six in a row during the 2004-05 season. It's also the longest winning streak for Craig Robinson in his Oregon State coaching career, bettering the six four-game streaks he enjoyed.
"We have not put together a full game yet and we are 9-2," Robinson said. "That's a good feeling, but it's also a disturbing feeling. We still have a lot to do on defense at times during games. I think when you score as much as we do, and with the ease that we do, you have a tendency to take your defense for granted. But I'm absolutely ecstatic with the way our team kind of gutted it out."
The Pac-12 is hosting four games at the MGM Grand Garden Arena this weekend as a prelude to the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament that is moving to Las Vegas in March 2013 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
"I want to thank the Pac-12 for giving us this opportunity to play the first-ever game at the MGM Grand Arena," Robinson said. "It's quite a spot and we are really looking forward to playing the Pac-12 Tournament here. It's also nice getting a first look at it, too. I think that's going to be helpful at the end of the year when we're back here in March."
The Beavers had one of their best halves of the season as they jumped out to a 16-point lead on the Toreros before taking a 44-29 lead into the locker room at the break. San Diego made a run in the second half and cut the Beavers' lead to 74-72 with 3:59 to play.
But Oregon State scored the game's next seven points with the final three on a monster dunk by Jarmal Reid and a free throw to complete the three-point that gave the Beavers a comfortable 81-72 advantage. It was the second highlight dunk of the game for Reid who drove the lane earlier in the second half and threw one down that got the small but loud crowd on their feet.
"I was really proud of these guys because they made a great run and we made some mistakes - we turned the ball over, we missed a couple of foul shots and a couple of assignments on defense - and the next thing you know we're only up by two," Robinson said. "These guys didn't panic. They executed their offense. They buckled down and we were able to pull the lead back out. I didn't panic. But the most important thing is that our players didn't panic."
Moreland had 20 points and 11 rebounds, his second consecutive double-double, and made 7-of-8 shots from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Roberto Nelson added 20 points and four assists and Joe Burton was the other Oregon State player in double figures with 13.
The Beavers started the game on fire as they built a 26-10 lead when Olaf Schaftenaar nailed a three-pointer at the 7:25 mark of the first half. They shot 58.6 percent in the first half and an even hotter 60 percent in the second half to post their best percentage of the season at 59.2 percent (29-for-49).
San Diego (6-7) was led by Chris Manresa who had 18 points and eight rebounds. Ken Rancifer added 14 points, while Johnny Dee finished with 12 and Chris Anderson had 11.
The Beavers have six days off for the holidays before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 29 against Towson in a 1 p.m. contest at Gill Coliseum. The first 1,000 fans to attend the game will receive a free Alamo Bowl t-shirt and there will be a bowl watch party at Gill afterwards.
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