Thompson brothers lead Oregon State past LBSU 75-72
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Ethan Thompson had 18 points and seven rebounds, and brother Stephen Thompson Jr. added 17 points to help Oregon State hold off Long Beach State 75-72 on Sunday.
Tres Tinkle, who entered second in the Pac-12 with a 21.8 scoring average, was held to two points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half and finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Oregon State (5-1). Gilgorije Rakocevic added 10 points and six boards.
Ethan Thompson’s 3-pointer and back-to-back buckets by Tinkle gave the Beavers a 46-42 lead with 14:40 left to play. Stephen Thompson’s layup capped a 30-14 spurt and OSU had its first double-digit lead, 63-52, with 7:53 to play.
A layup by KJ Byers pulled the 49ers within 69-67, but Ethan Thompson sank a jumper and Tinkle added two free throws to push the Beavers’ lead to six. Once again LBSU battled back, using Byers’ 3-point play and two free throws by Deishuan Booker to get within 73-72 with 34 seconds remaining. But Zach Reichle sank two free throws with 11 seconds to go and Booker and Jordan Griffin missed 3s in the final seconds.
Edon Maxhuni scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half for Long Beach State (2-5). Maxhuni was 3 of 4 from 3-point range while the rest of his teammates made just 1 of 12 from distance. Byers finished with 13 points and six rebounds, Temidayo Yussuf added 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, and Jordan Robers scored 10.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State: The Beavers came in leading the Pac-12 in scoring defense at 61.2 points per game. They have held three opponents below 60 points this season after doing so in just 3 of 32 games last season. … OSU shot better from the floor with more rebounds and assists than their first five opponents this season.
Long Beach State: Booker came in shooting 95.5 percent at the free-throw line (42 of 44), fifth best in the nation. He has the top percentage among players with at least 30 attempts. The rest of his teammates, however, made just 50 of 93 at the foul line (54 percent) through the first six games. Booker hit 5 of 6 from the foul line against OSU, while his teammates sank 13 of 19.
UP NEXT
Oregon State: The Beavers return home to host Missouri State on Saturday.
Long Beach State: The 49ers travel to Los Angeles to play Southern California on Wednesday.
