Oregon State on a 5-game losing streak after men’s basketball setback to Cal Baptist

CORVALLIS — Oregon State struggled to find consistent offensive rhythm Saturday night, and Cal Baptist’s Martel Williams made two big three pointers late in the second half, as the Lancers defeated the Beavers 75-69 at Gill Coliseum.

It was the fifth straight loss for the Beavers (3-5), following a rivalry loss to Oregon in Eugene and defeats to Evansville, Iona, and UMass at the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Tough one obviously,” Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle said. “We’re in a funk. That was a really good team that we knew had a lot of confidence going.”

Dez White, who hit four threes, led Oregon State with 14 points. Noah Amenhauser and Malcolm Christie finished with 10 points each.

Williams led the Lancers (7-0) with 19 points, including his clutch threes in the final two minutes. The shots, which were nearly identical from the corner right in front of the Cal Baptist bench, came after Christie hit two transition threes off turnovers to cap an 8-0 run that got the Beavers back in the game at 67-62 with 3:02 left.

Two possessions later, Oregon State forward Isaiah Sy hit a deep three from the top of the key to cut the lead to 69-65 with 2:14 left in the game. But that was as close at the Beavers could get, and Williams closed the comeback door.

“I credit our guys for fighting all the way until the end,” Tinkle said. “But too many mistakes to the details of the scouting report. That’s lack of mental toughness and discipline that we have to keep developing.”

Oregon State held Cal Baptist’s Dominique Daniels Jr. in check in the first half. Daniels Jr. entered the game averaging 19 points, but he had just four in the first half. He scored eight down the stretch to help the Lancers hold off the Beavers.

“Their point guard (Daniels Jr.) just shredded us,” Tinkle said. “He got by us and made some pretty tough shots off the glass.”

Oregon State had multiple field goal droughts of nearly four minutes and the Beavers were outscored in the paint 40-18.

“They just pushed us out of offense, and we couldn’t ever get our shooters shots,” Tinkle said. “Luckily we had a stretch in the second half where we got stops. It could have gotten sideways.”

Oregon State’s loss to Cal Baptist was the first of five straight home games for the Beavers, who play Vermont on Wednesday.