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Junior forward Roeland Schaftenaar lead all scorers with 18 points in Oregon State's 62-58 victory over the visiting USC Trojans.

Another USC loss

Oregon State wins first Pac-10 men's game over USC since February 22, 2007 against UW

By: Casey Grogan

Posted: 1/6/09

As the final seconds ticked off the game clock, a chant broke out throughout Legendary Gill Coliseum, "Just like football, just like football!"

With the chant came a celebration of Oregon State's 62-58 overtime win against USC (10-4, 1-1 Pac-10), the first Pac-10 win for OSU (6-6, 1-1) since February 22, 2007 against Washington. The Beavers executed a tough zone defense that caused trouble for the athletic USC squad early in the game.

Oregon State jumped out early after a defensive stop that allowed junior guard Seth Tarver to drive the lane making his shot while drawing a foul. After hitting from the line, Tarver's OSU teammates exchanged scoreless possessions with the Trojans.

"They kept us at the half court line all night long," USC head coach Tim Floyd said. "We had trouble getting it down to the baseline and playing off the baseline. Again, you have to give them credit."

Tarver intercepted a cross-court pass returning the ball to OSU to set-up their offense. Oregon State moved the ball around the court, and as the shot clock ticked down, junior forward Roeland Schaftenaar hit the first of his three shots from beyond the three-point arc.

Schaftenaar would score from the elbow on the next OSU possession giving the Beavers an 8-0 lead at the first media timeout. The Trojans fought back after the break going on an 11 point run, resulting in a 13-12 USC lead. The teams exchanged baskets tying the game at 18 apiece.

However, Southern California executed their offense at the end of the half with shots dropping off the hands of senior forward Marcus Johnson and freshman forward DeMar DeRozan. Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 36-seconds left giving the Trojans a 25-20 lead at half.

USC jumped out early in the second half extending their lead to 15 points at the 12:54 mark thanks to a fadeaway 3-point shot from junior guard Daniel Hackett. Hackett and the Trojans began to relinquish their lead as sophomore guard Calvin Haynes began to run through the Southern California defense.

"They were down by 15 and came back with a great force in the second half," Floyd said. "I felt they took great shots. They guarded hard when they were down, and I felt we guarded just as hard when we were up."

Shortly after Hackett's 3-pointer, Haynes drove to the basket before dumping the ball back to sophomore forward Omari Johnson who hit a 3-point shot of his own. Haynes followed on the next possession with a three from the wing bringing the Beavers within 9 points.

With 5:02 left in the game, senior guard Rickey Claitt threw an alley-oop lob toward the basket to Haynes, who was fouled on the attempt. The play resulted in only 1 point for OSU at the free-throw line, but it was the play that brought Beaver Nation to their feet.

"The fans were great," Schaftenaar said. "It was really loud and they made us play better and gave us a lot of energy."

Feeding off the energy of the crowd Oregon State climbed within 3 points with a little over a minute remaining. A moment after Claitt was helped off the court with an injury and only less than a minute remaining, Haynes missed a shot giving the ball to USC. Schaftenaar came up with a critical steal, before calling a timeout and giving OSU one last shot.

Haynes drew the attention of multiple USC defenders before dishing to Schaftenaar who was left wide open at the top of the key. Schaftenaar launched the open three, which fell through the net with 01.4 seconds left giving Oregon State a 54-54 tie.

"Roe was on today," Haynes said. "When I see him like this all you can do is give him the ball, give him the ball."

USC controlled the tip in overtime and scored the first three points of the overtime period. Johnson responded with a 3-pointer tying the game at 57-57, before Haynes and Tarver put the game out of reach 62-57. Oregon State surrendered a free-throw to USC before the game ended with 62-58 Beaver victory.

Schaftenaar tied his career high 18 points, the junior from the Netherlands led all scorers and led OSU with 6 assists. Haynes scored in double digits for the sixth time this season, finishing with 16 points.

"We had to play two of the most athletic teams," Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. "We were hoping to keep the momentum we had going from the second half of the UCLA game and then just see how the chips fell. We came out and really played our butts off. I was very pleased with how they played."

On Friday, Oregon State was defeated by UCLA 69-46 at Legendary Gill Coliseum. The Beavers return to action Thursday at Arizona State.

Casey Grogan, sports editor

sports@dailybarometer.com