Beavs prove resilient but lose to Cal

THE BEAVERS FOUGHT back on Saturday against Cal, each time the Bears threatened to put the game out of reach OSU responded by coming back with a run of their own. In the end, however, Oregon State shot 33 percent from the field -- a microcosm of their play in-league to date -- and Cal dealt the Beavers a 69-59 defeat in Corvallis.

Marcel Jones led Oregon State with 12 points but shot 5-for-17 from the field. Seth Tarver and Roeland Schaftenaar were the two Beavs who at or above 50 percent from the field, with 5-of-9 and 11 points and 3-of-6 for eight points, respectively.

Cal looked ready to end this one early, jumping out to a 14-4 advantage. But Oregon State fired back with a 13-2 run to take the lead. Then Josh Tarver canned a 3-pointer, and Seth Tarver flushed a dunk and the Beavers were riding high at 22-16 lead.

It was a short lived moment.

Over the space of the next two minutes, Cal ripped off 15 straight on the Beavs to take a 31-22 lead, and led by 10 heading into the half.

Cal extended their lead to as many as 18 in the second. The Beavs didn't fold and had some nice mini-runs, but could get no closer than 8 points the rest of the way.

Josh Tarver and C.J. Giles finished with nine points a piece for the Beavers, and Tarver also had five steals.

Oregon State came into the game shooting just 34.9 percent in Pac-10 play. Omari Johnson, who had seven points and six rebounds, was 3-for-10 on Saturday.

Cal next takes on No. 4 Washington State, thought the Cougs (14-1) are sure to drop in the national rankings after losing their first game of the season to UCLA on Saturday. The tip in Pullman is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday.