Jordan Shepherd scored the tying and winning baskets Wednesday night as California snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 63-61 decision over Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore.
After converting an 18-footer with 1:39 left to even the score at 61, Shepherd drove to the bucket and was awarded the go-ahead hoop when Warith Alatishe was whistled for goaltending with 17.9 seconds remaining.
The Golden Bears (10-15, 3-11 Pac-12) survived three shots on the Beavers’ final possession. Dexter Akanno missed a short jumper and after the rebound went out of bounds to Oregon State, Jarod Lucas couldn’t hit a 3-pointer and Maurice Calloo’s putback attempt missed as time expired.
Shepherd scored 15 points for Cal and Grant Anticevich added 13. For the Bears, it was their first win since routing Arizona State 74-50 on Jan. 2.
Calloo scored a game-high 18 points for the Beavers (3-18, 1-10), who dropped their eighth straight game since beating Utah 88-76 on Dec. 30. Lucas added 12 and Glenn Taylor Jr. hit for 11 points.
Cal made just 36.5 percent of its shots but was able to earn a 42-36 advantage on the glass. It turned 14 offensive rebounds into 17 points.
Both teams have been troubled by inconsistent execution on the offensive end, so it wasn’t surprising that each got off to slow starts. Oregon State led 6-3 at the first TV timeout exactly five minutes into the game.
The Beavers picked up the pace after that and established a 20-14 lead at the 10:28 mark when Alatishe, who played only six minutes Saturday at Colorado because of a knee injury, canned a short jumper in the lane.
Cal made a push after that, taking a 27-24 edge when Shepherd drilled a 3-pointer with 3:21 remaining. But Oregon State rallied and took a 31-30 lead at halftime when Ahmad Rand canned a jumper in the final minute.
Neither team hit better than 40 percent in the half, but the Beavers did a good job at the foul line, going 8 of 10.
–Field Level Media
