Men's Basketball Falls Short At Oregon State

Dec. 19, 2007

Final Stats

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team took the lead with 6:49 remaining in the game for the first time all night, but could not hold onto the advantage, falling 65-56 at Oregon State this evening. The Bears move to 5-5 on the season, while the Beavers improve to 6-4.

Junior forward Jabril Banks once again led the Bears, scoring 17 on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and for the second straight game, posted a perfect night at the free throw line, this time going 5-for-5. Banks has now made 11 free throws in a row.

Senior guard Sean Taibi, in just his second game back after suffering a knee injury and missing four games, was the only other Bear in double figures in scoring, notching 12. Sophomore forward Jefferson Mason also chipped in eight points and led the team with six rebounds and five assists, while Banks tallied two blocks for NC.

Northern Colorado shot .452 for the game, including .500 in the first half (8-16) and connected on a season-best .875 (14-16) from the free throw line, but were out-rebounded by the Beavers, 41-28, giving up 22 offensive caroms to OSU.

"I am proud of how we fought back to take the lead in the second half," said head coach Tad Boyle. "We've got to get somebody going other than Jabril. Sean showed it in the second half, so hopefully he keeps that going."

Oregon State was led by Seth Tarver with 15 points, while both Josh Tarver and Omar Johnson chipped in 10 each and C.J. Giles had a game-high 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end of the floor. Seth Tarver also led the Beavers with four assists and Sean Carter had five steals.

OSU shot .391 from the field and just .235 from beyond the arc and .538 from the charity stripe but committed just nine turnovers, compared to 20 for Northern Colorado.

"This was a winnable game," continued Boyle. "It would have been a signature win for our program, but we couldn't hang on to the lead."

The Bears trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, but closed the gap using a 10-0 run midway through the second half, taking a 52-47 lead. Oregon State answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead back for good at 54-52.

NC concludes the four game road trip at Portland on Friday evening. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific)/8:30 p.m. (Mountain). There is no television for the game, but action can be heard live on 1310 KFKA AM.