A second-half surge Tuesday night, led by Josiah Lake II, lifted the Oregon State men to a 70-62 win over San Francisco at Gill Coliseum.
Lake scored all of his 14 points after halftime, as the Beavers (8-7, 1-1 WCC) outscored the Dons (9-5, 1-1) by 13 points in the second half to pick up their first West Coast Conference win of the season.
It was a badly needed performance and outcome for Oregon State, two days removed from a 38-point home loss to Santa Clara.
Lake hit a crucial step-back three with 1:52 left in the game that put Oregon State up 54-50. Isaiah Sy closed out the win with four free-throws in the final 30 seconds.
The teams had traded big runs earlier in the game.
Sy, who led the Beavers with 18 points, was 3 for 4 from three-point range in the first half.
The Beavers scored 16 straight points during an early stretch, and Sy’s third triple was a pull-up jumper that gave the Beavers a 21-9 lead with 7:56 to go until halftime.
But San Francisco closed out the first half on a 21-4 run, including 14 straight at one point. Tyrone Riley IV hit a jumper in the final seconds to give the Dons a 30-25 halftime lead.
Then Lake started his scoring onslaught. He made 5 of his 7 shots from the field in the second half, including all four of his three-point attempts.
With 10:03 left in the second half, Dez White hit a three that gave Oregon State the lead for good. Two possessions later, White picked up an assist to Sy for another triple that put the Beavers up 51-47.
White finished with 11 points and a career-high six assists. He also led Oregon State in rebounds with eight.
San Francisco forward David Fuchs led all scorers with 19 points, including nine free-throws.
Oregon State shot 50% against San Francisco and edged the Dons 30-29 in rebounding.
The Beavers will play their first conference road game of the season at 7 p.m. Friday at Pacific (9-6, 0-2).
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