CORVALLIS – Oregon denied Oregon State its first 5-0 start in 38 years when the Ducks rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat the Beavers 78-75 Thursday night at Gill Coliseum.
Nate Bittle scored a career-high 23 points and Jackson Shelstad scored 11 of his 15 points during the second half to lead the comeback.
The Ducks (5-0) extended their winning streak over Oregon State to eight games.
Bittle also had 14 rebounds for Oregon, which shot 49% (30 of 61) from floor. The Ducks, trailing 61-49 with 12 minutes remaining, went on a 20-5 run to take over.
Michael Rataj had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead Oregon State (4-1). Liutauras Lelevicius scored 13 points for the Beavers, who last started a season 5-0 in 1986.
Oregon State went down largely due to its second half shooting. The Beavers, who led by 10 at halftime, shot 7 of 25 during the second half.
Oregon State led for all but 80 seconds of the first half, taking a 47-37 lead into halftime. Outside of giving up too many open three-pointers, the Beavers played good defense, particularly inside. OSU outrebounded the Ducks 20-13 during the opening 20 minutes. Rataj and Lelevicius combined to score 28 of Oregon State’s 47 points.
The Beavers’ best spurt of the first half came with about five minutes left. Leading 31-29 following a three by Brandon Angel, Oregon State ran off nine consecutive points to take their largest lead of the game. Lelevicius hit a three and scored on a rebound basket during the spurt.
Oregon rebounded with six consecutive points to trim the lead to five. But OSU scored four points during the final 19 seconds, including a Matthew Marsh tip-in at the buzzer, to grab a 10-point lead at the break.
Bittle was Oregon’s offense early in the second half, scoring nine of the Ducks’ first 10 points. But the Beavers maintained a double digit lead through the first nine minutes, as a Minor three gave OSU a 61-49 advantage.
Oregon began to make a run, as a Jadrian Tracy three capped a 6-0 run, pulling the Ducks to within five. Oregon got to within four, and might have got closer if not for Minor. The OSU senior guard, who missed his first seven shots, hit three consecutive shots, including a pair of threes, to give the Beavers a 66-59 lead with eight minutes left.
Oregon then hit OSU with a 7-0 run, capped by a Bittle layup, to tie the game at 66 with six minutes remaining. Shelstad then made it 10 consecutive points when his three with 5:23 remaining put the Ducks in front 69-66.
Each team took a shot at the lead down the stretch. OSU led 72-71, then lost the lead when Shelstad buried a three with 2:41 remaining. Shelstad then hit a tough runner with 30 seconds left to increase the lead to 76-73.
The Ducks held off a last-second attempt to tie as Rataj’s three glanced off the rim at the buzzer.
Oregon State returns to action Monday when the Beavers play their first road game of the season at North Texas. Tipoff is 5 p.m. in Denton, Tex.
—Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.
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