CORVALLIS, Ore. — UTSA led by as much as 10 points in the first half, but Oregon State opened the final period on a 14-4 run and held off a late Roadrunners rally for a 72-64 victory on Sunday afternoon inside Gill Coliseum.
Jeff Beverly led the Roadrunners (0-2) with 12 points, while Lucas O'Brien added 10 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds. Giovanni De Nicolao (9 points), George Willborn III (9 points) and J.R. Harris (8 points) all neared double figures for UTSA, which pulled down 39 rebounds and got 30 points from its bench.
Meanwhile, Tres Tinkle paced the Beavers (2-0) with game highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds. Drew Eubanks and JaQuori McLaughlin added 13 points apiece, as Oregon State shot 52 percent in the second half after UTSA held the home squad to just 33.3 percent in the first half.
UTSA led 35-25 with a minute to play in the opening half and the visitors took a 37-29 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
However, the Beavers started the second on their 14-4 run for a 43-41 lead, and would not trail again. The Roadrunners tied the score at 45-all following a pair of free throws from Gino Littles, but Oregon State used a 13-3 burst minutes later for a 61-50 cushion.
However, UTSA answered the bell with a 12-2 run of its own that pulled it within a point at 63-62 with 3:30 to play.
The Roadrunners did most of their damage inside during the run as De Nicolao ignited the spurt with a layup. Byron Frohnen, Nick Allen and De Nicolao all scored in the paint along with a Willborn III free throw. Finally, De Nicolao's trey on the left win closed the run and quieted the home crowd.
However, Oregon State would hold UTSA without a basket the rest of the way and the Beavers salted the game away at the free-throw line en route to the 72-64 final.
UTSA started slowly out of the gate and Oregon State controlled the opening minutes en route to a 9-3 lead. However, the Roadrunners began to heat up and the visitors outscored the Beavers 17-5 over a five-minute span to grab the upper hand.
Beverly started the run with layup and then the junior sandwiched a jumper and 3-pointer around a basket from O'Brien. Harris followed a Littles free throw with a trey and fastbreak layup before Littles capped the run with a nifty move to the basket and layup.
When the dust had settled, UTSA led 20-14 with eight minutes to play in the half.
Oregon State responded with a 6-0 run to knot the score at 20, but the Roadrunners bounced back and outscored the home squad 17-9 over the final five minutes for a 37-29 halftime advantage.
Willborn III quieted the crowd with a 3-pointer and after two freebies from O'Brien, James Ringholt drilled a trey in the right corner for a 28-23 lead. O'Brien had four points with free throws and a tip in along with an Austin Karrer 3-pointer to hand UTSA its largest lead of the day, 35-25, with a minute to play in the half.
UTSA will close out its season-opening three-game road trip with a 7 p.m. matchup at Illinois-Chicago (0-1) on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at UIC Arena.
