Beavs win 71-70 OT nailbiter, Stanford next

CALVIN HAYNES SAW an opening and he took it. But as he drove towards the basket, with Oregon State down by one in the waning seconds of overtime, a wall of Vermont players converged on his path. He said later he was just trying to draw a foul and go to the line. But Haynes' hanging bank shot found chord, and OSU extended their season. They also earned a return engagement against Stanford.

"I didn't have anywhere to go," said Haynes of his game winning drive and bucket against Vermont. "I saw four people and just threw it up and I just hoped it went in."

It did, two of his team high 19 points on the night, the last hoop coming with 6.1 seconds left on the clock. Vermont's desperation jumper at the buzzer clanked off the rim and OSU now finds itself one win away from the CBI title game.

The game on Monday night was nip and tuck throughout -- there were 27 lead changes on the night -- and Oregon State and Vermont put on an offensive show in the first half.

Rickey Claitt and Lathen Wallace hit a high percentage from downtown -- Wallace early and Claitt late. Both finished in double figures.

Slow as maple syrup -- at times that's been the pace of Oregon State scoring on the hardcourt this year. Not on Monday night.

While Oregon State scored 49 points total in their opening round win of the CBI, they scored 36 in the first half on Monday.

The problem was Vermont was matching them shot for shot.

The Beavs shot a brisk 58 percent from the field in the first half, Vermont an even better 63 percent.

Both teams cooled off in the second and especially in overtime, each ending right around 50 percent.

Oregon State actually wasn't playing all that bad of defense in the first half -- they forced 10 turnovers resulting in 12 OSU points. But through their 1-3-1 trap, Vermont found open looks from the perimeter. And they nailed them, hitting six 3-pointers in the first half.

The Beavers were hitting from outside themselves, hitting 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Lathen Wallace led the Beavers at the break with 12 points.

The Beavs trailed 38-36 at the half and were briefly down by as many as seven in the second half. That lasted all of a couple minutes, as Oregon State went on an 8-0 run powered by two Claitt 3-pointers.

Both teams went cold in the overtime, with a pair of free throws by Roeland Schaftenaar in the opening seconds of the extra frame the only scoring until Vermont drilled a three-ball with 19.7 seconds remaining and taking a 70-69 lead. It was a lead that Haynes would ensure was short lived.

Oregon State next faces Stanford in Corvallis at 7 pm PT in the CBI semifinals. The other semifinal game pits UTEP at Richmond. The Beavers swept the Cardinal in their two regular season meetings this season before losing to Stanford in the Pac-10 Tournament.