Jordan Pope made the decisive two free throws with 28.4 seconds left to help Oregon State slip past Denver 57-52 on Wednesday night in nonconference play at Corvallis, Ore.
Glenn Taylor Jr. scored 12 points and Pope added 10 as the Beavers (7-6) won their third straight game despite shooting just 34.7 percent from the field and making only 4 of 15 from 3-point range.
Tommy Bruner, Lukas Kisunas and Touko Tainamo each scored 10 points for Denver (9-5), which lost for the fourth time in five games. The Pioneers shot 40.7 percent from the field but missed all 11 of their 3-point shots.
Tainamo scored on a putback to give Denver a 52-51 lead with 40 seconds to play.
Pope responded with his two free throws to put Oregon State ahead by one.
Denver turned the ball over on its next possession as Justin Mullins received a pass in the left corner and stepped out of bounds with 7.4 seconds left.
Oregon State’s Justin Rochelin then made four consecutive free throws — two before Bruner missed a 3-point attempt with less than a second remaining and two afterward to close it out.
Oregon State used a 9-2 run early in the second half to take a 29-22 lead. Pope capped the spurt by sinking a 3-pointer with 16:38 left.
The Pioneers answered with a 12-1 surge, and a fastbreak layup by Mullins gave them a 34-30 lead with 12:33 remaining.
Oregon State caught Denver at 38 with 8:03 left but went scoreless for the next 3 1/2 minutes and without a field goal for 4:56.
Marko Lukic and Mullins made layups and Bruner hit a jumper to give the Pioneers a six-point edge with 6:01 remaining. Lukic scored on a layup to make it 46-38 with 4:54 left.
Taylor made two free throws with 4:33 left, ending Oregon State’s drought and starting an 11-2 spurt. Dzmitry Ryuny capped it with a 3-pointer to give the Beavers a 49-48 edge with 1:53 remaining.
Both teams shot poorly in the first half and Oregon State led 20-18 at the break.
The Beavers were 8 of 25 from the field (32 percent) while Denver hit 8 of 27 (29.6 percent).
Oregon State missed its first eight shots of the game as the Pioneers took an 8-1 lead. Taylor’s basket with 12:35 left in the half ended the Beavers’ drought.
–Field Level Media