Seattle U. trips Oregon State again, 83-80

Fifty-one points one year, three the next.

Ultimately, Seattle University didn't care about the margin, just that it got another win over Oregon State, pulling off a big second-half rally to beat the Beavers 83-80 Wednesday night in front of 4,526 at KeyArena.

"It means as much as if we beat any other team," insisted Seattle University guard Cervante Burrell.

Maybe so. But satisfying as was last year's 99-48 win over Oregon State in Corvallis, this one might have felt even better. That one was easy to write off as a fluke — some regarded it as maybe the most inexplicable result in college basketball last season.

But there was no doubt on this night that the Redhawks got as good a shot as the Beavers can give right now, and even after falling behind by 12 points midway through the second half, Seattle U. got back up and rallied for the win.

"This was a big week for us in continuing to move this thing in the right direction," said Seattle U. coach Cameron Dollar, in his second year at the school, which is in its second year playing a full Division-I schedule.

Indeed, Seattle U. began the season with three straight double-digit losses, including a 76-60 home loss to Cal Poly on Sunday.

Dollar told his team after that game to get even more aggressive on both ends of the court, and that attitude was apparent from the start as freshman guard Sterling Carter sank two three-pointers in the first 40 seconds as the Redhawks busted out to an early lead.

Oregon State, however, came back to tie it 43-43 at halftime, despite 16 first-half points from Carter. Then, with Carter on the bench for a time with three fouls, the Beavers scored 11 in a row early in the second half to take a 54-47 lead. That grew to 64-52 with 11:17 remaining as the Redhawks went almost 7 ½ minutes without a field goal, missing 11 straight shots.

During a timeout during that stretch, Dollar repeated the aggressive mantra, saying he told his team to take an "Evel Knievel" approach, a reference to the famous motorcycle daredevil.

"Never hesitate, just keep going," Burrell said of Dollar's message.

It worked as Seattle U. went on a 14-2 run to tie the score, capped by a four-point play by sophomore JC transfer forward Chad Rasmussen, the first points of his Redhawks career. Rasmussen hit a three-pointer from the corner and was fouled and made the free throw to tie it at 66 with 5:44 left.

"He was ready when we needed him," Dollar said.

After OSU regained the lead at 69-66, the Redhawks responded with another 10-0 run to take the lead for good, getting seven points from senior forward Alex Jones sandwiched around another Carter three-pointer. The freshman guard finished with 20 points.

OSU rallied and had a final chance when Carter missed one of two free throws with 9.8 seconds left, making the score 83-80.

But after a timeout, Oregon State's Calvin Haynes lost control of the ball as he went up for a potential tying three-pointer, and the clock ran out.

Seattle U.'s frenetic defense forced OSU into 21 turnovers, and the Beavers also shot just 42.2 percent.

"We had some very critical turnovers during that time (when Seattle U. came back)," said OSU coach Craig Robinson. "We were doing some uncharacteristic things with the lead and you can't win a game like this on the road missing 10 free throws and missing, like, 10 layups and turning the ball over. You can't beat a team, no matter what level they are, on the road making those mistakes."

Seattle U.'s next game is Friday vs. Louisiana Tech in Irvine, Calif., in the continuation of the 2K Sports Classic. The Redhawks will play three games in three days there and have four in a row away from Seattle before returning for their next home game Nov. 29 against Montana State at 7:10 p.m.