Friday, 2/28/97
UCLA sends Beavers downstream
Despite slack playing in second half, Bruins hold early lead
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Staff
By fending off Oregon State, 81-69, Thursday night at Pauley
Pavilion, the UCLA men’s basketball team has poised itself to claim
at least a share of the Pac-10 conference crown.
Should the Bruins win Saturday’s match-up against Oregon (16-9
overall, 7-9 Pac-10), they would clinch a share of their third
straight title.
To put itself in position to do, UCLA (18-7, 12-3) first had to
stave off the pesky Beavers.
The Bruins came out strong and dominated Oregon State (7-18,
3-13) for most of the first half. With the help of a 66.7
first-half field goal percentage, the Bruins built a seemingly
insurmountable 17-point lead. However, Oregon State outscored the
Bruins 16-9 over the final eight minutes of the half, and trailed
by only 10 at halftime, 40-30.
The Bruins looked a little listless in the second half. UCLA’s
shooting percentage for the second half fell to a 48.3 clip, which
allowed the Beavers to gnaw at the Bruin lead.
"I thought we played a little selfish in the second half,"
Charles O’Bannon said. "We weren’t playing in control, started to
take a shot a little quicker than usual and they started playing
well defensively."
Oregon State put together a 17-6 run that would tie the score at
54 with 7:19 left in the game. Beaver freshman guard Corey Benjamin
lead the charge, scoring 18 of his 26 points in the second
half.
"Tonight we escaped a bullet," UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said.
"We could have very easily lost tonight, (Oregon State) executed
very well. And Corey Benjamin…you know he’s going to play at that
magic level."
The Bruins responded, however, with Toby Bailey’s team-high 20
points and Cameron Dollar’s 17 points and six assists.
One of Dollar’s assists was a dish to O’Bannon, who laid it in
and also drew a foul in the process. O’Bannon sank the free throw
to give UCLA an 11-point lead with one minute remaining.
After Oregon State tied the score 54-54, the Bruins were able to
outscore OSU 26-15 over the final stretch.
"(Oregon State) has always hung in there with each team they’ve
played," Dollar said. "We played against a team that was like a
bunch of terrorists that don’t really have anything to lose and
when you play against a team like that you’ve got to keep
fighting."
The Bruins will be fighting for the championship Saturday.
But, aside from being the possible conference title clincher,
Saturday’s game will also be the last home game for the three
seniors, Dollar, Bob Myers and O’Bannon.
"It’s a little scary," said O’Bannon who came close to a
double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. "But I’m just going
to look at it as another game. I’m just going to take it in stride
and I’m looking forward to it."
The Bruins will be looking for retribution against Oregon. The
Ducks, who lost to USC Thursday night72-69, defeated UCLA in
overtime at McArthur Court, 87-85, in the first meeting of the
season.Cameron Dollar runs the court
UCLA 81,
Oregon State 69