
Rataj, Fallah Lead Beavers to Road Win
February 20, 2025 | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. – Michael Rataj scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Parsa Fallah added 24 points, to lead the Oregon State men's basketball team to an 84-78 win over Pepperdine on Thursday evening at the Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Beavers (19-9, 9-6 WCC) improved to 7-0 all-time against the Waves and completed the season sweep that included an 83-63 win on January 23 at Gill Coliseum.
Leading 38-37 at halftime, Oregon State came out on fire in the second half, outscoring the Waves 15-5 to take a 53-42 advantage. Pepperdine cut the deficit to 68-65 before Josiah Lake II drilled a 3-pointer and Liutauras Lelevicius made a jumper for a comfortable margin and key conference road win.
The Beavers shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) in the second half and 50 percent (31-of-62) in the game.
Fallah notched 20+ points for the fifth time this season, while Rataj posted his ninth double-double this season and 13th in his Oregon State career.
Rataj (25) and Fallah (24) combined for 49 of the Beavers' 84 points.
Lelevicius scored nine points off the bench and Isaiah Sy knocked down two triples and a pair of free throws to finish with eight points. It's the fifth-consecutive game Sy has made multiple 3-pointers. Damarco Minor had a team-best seven assists.
Johan Munch entered the game 3-for-10 on the season in his 17 contests, but was aggressive in the first frame, knocking down 2-of-5 shots and a free throw to score a career-high five points.
His previous career high was two points, in four different games, and his two boards equaled a career best.
Oregon State fell behind 21-13 in the first half but battled back to take a 31-29 lead on a 3-pointer from the left corner by Sy with 4:01 on the clock. Fallah made two free throws in the final 2.7 seconds of the half to give the Beavers a 38-37 lead at the break.
Fallah led OSU with 13 points in the first half, while Rataj added seven and Sy made both of his 3-point attempts for six points.
With the win, Oregon State improved to 15-1 this season, and 7-0 in West Coast Conference play, when leading at halftime.
Pepperdine (10-18, 4-11 WCC) was led by Boubacar Coulibaly's 20 points and 11 boards, while Moe Odum had 19 points and seven assists, and Stefan Todorovic added 10 points.
The Beavers will conclude a two-game road trip when they face the San Diego Toreros (4-24, 1-14 WCC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Jenny Craig Pavilion in a game televised on ESPN+.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).
The Beavers (19-9, 9-6 WCC) improved to 7-0 all-time against the Waves and completed the season sweep that included an 83-63 win on January 23 at Gill Coliseum.
Leading 38-37 at halftime, Oregon State came out on fire in the second half, outscoring the Waves 15-5 to take a 53-42 advantage. Pepperdine cut the deficit to 68-65 before Josiah Lake II drilled a 3-pointer and Liutauras Lelevicius made a jumper for a comfortable margin and key conference road win.
The Beavers shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) in the second half and 50 percent (31-of-62) in the game.
Fallah notched 20+ points for the fifth time this season, while Rataj posted his ninth double-double this season and 13th in his Oregon State career.
Rataj (25) and Fallah (24) combined for 49 of the Beavers' 84 points.
Lelevicius scored nine points off the bench and Isaiah Sy knocked down two triples and a pair of free throws to finish with eight points. It's the fifth-consecutive game Sy has made multiple 3-pointers. Damarco Minor had a team-best seven assists.
Johan Munch entered the game 3-for-10 on the season in his 17 contests, but was aggressive in the first frame, knocking down 2-of-5 shots and a free throw to score a career-high five points.
His previous career high was two points, in four different games, and his two boards equaled a career best.
Oregon State fell behind 21-13 in the first half but battled back to take a 31-29 lead on a 3-pointer from the left corner by Sy with 4:01 on the clock. Fallah made two free throws in the final 2.7 seconds of the half to give the Beavers a 38-37 lead at the break.
Fallah led OSU with 13 points in the first half, while Rataj added seven and Sy made both of his 3-point attempts for six points.
With the win, Oregon State improved to 15-1 this season, and 7-0 in West Coast Conference play, when leading at halftime.
Pepperdine (10-18, 4-11 WCC) was led by Boubacar Coulibaly's 20 points and 11 boards, while Moe Odum had 19 points and seven assists, and Stefan Todorovic added 10 points.
The Beavers will conclude a two-game road trip when they face the San Diego Toreros (4-24, 1-14 WCC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Jenny Craig Pavilion in a game televised on ESPN+.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).
Team Stats
OSU
PEP
FG%
.500
.448
3FG%
.313
.500
FT%
.739
.895
RB
40
27
TO
9
8
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Players Mentioned
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