BEAVS COMPLETE STUNNING BAY AREA SWEEP

IT DIDN'T LOOK good. Oregon State trailed by 12 in the second half and Cal was physically pushing them around. But the Beavs pushed back. And they did it with defense. That keyed some pinpoint passing and inside points. It also opened up some long range buckets. The end result was a rim rattling, defense swarming 65-54 beat down of Cal -- and something last seen in Corvallis 20 years ago.

After all the Oregon State seniors have been through, after all the dark times endured on the hardcourt for a once proud basketball program, this one was nothing but white light.

Oregon State's victory over Cal (20-7, 9-5), who with a win over OSU would have moved into a first place tie for the conference lead, completed a black and orange season sweep of the Bay Area schools.

The last time OSU swept Cal and Stanford was during the 1989-90 season. The last time OSU (13-13, 7-8) swept Cal was 15 years ago.

On Saturday, Oregon State did it with defense.

Two key, late second half scores both involved Calvin Haynes, who led all scorers with 19 points.

The first, with the Beavs holding a precarious 52-50 lead, was a high arching three ball dagger with 3:08 to go. It was the next one, however, that nearly blew the roof off of Gill Coliseum.

Roeland Schaftenaar zipped a 25-foot bullet pass to the rim -- a catch and release acrobatic reverse layup by Haynes pushed the margin to 57-50 with 2:32 to go.

Cal never seriously threatened again. And it was Schaftenaar who keyed the Beaver comeback in the second half.

Oregon State's point forward (or point center if you prefer) had five assists on the night. The Beavs all told had 17 assists to Cal's seven.

For the majority of the game, however, Cal looked to be in good shape. The Bears had been playing their own brand of physical, in-your-grill defense and in the opening moments after the break, forged a 12 point lead.

But Schaftenaar provided the spark. He drilled a three to cut the margin to single digits and followed it up with a jump hook. Daniel Deane hit two free throws, Lathen Wallace drilled a trey and suddenly Cal's lead was cut to four. And the Oregon State crowd started to rise up in anticipation of what was to come.

Right around that time, Haynes heated up -- Oregon State shot a ridiculous 71 percent (17-for-24) in the second half and it was Haynes who led the way. One of his high arching fall back jumpers must have had a degree of difficulty factor of 10, but it simply touched chord.

It was Oregon State's defense, however, that made the comeback possible.

Seth Tarver had five steals on the night, and Haynes was right behind him with four. Schaftenaar had three big blocks and Oregon State held Cal to 33.3 percent from the floor. The Beavs shot 54.8 percent on the night.

Oregon State held a stunning 47-12 edge in bench scoring at the end of the night. Lathen Wallace chipped in 12 points while Deane added eight. Center Calvin Hampton, who is battling a sore hip. in nine minutes punched in four points plus a monstrous block that kept 'ol mo decidedly in the Beavers' corner and the OSU Faithful screaming for more.

Oregon State finishes the regular season with three straight road games at Oregon, USC and UCLA. The Pac-10 Tournament begins on March 11.