Huskers Fall at Oregon State

Corvallis, Ore. --- Ade Dagunduro's arcing shot from the baseline hit off the back of the rim and bounced away at the buzzer as Oregon State held on for a 64-63 victory over Nebraska Saturday at Gill Coliseum.

The Huskers needed a last-second play after Daniel Deane hit a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining to put the Beavers in the lead for the final time. Following Deane’s charity shots, Nebraska brought the ball up court quickly, looking to get a shot off as it did not have any timeouts left. Cookie Miller drove the lane and tried to pass to Dagunduro, but the ball bounced out of bounds. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

With 1.1 seconds remaining, the Huskers had a final chance and Dagunduro had a solid look at the basket, but his shot just missed, sending Nebraska to its second straight loss. NU fell to 6-2 on the season while OSU improved to 2-5. It was the first home win in three tries for the Beavers, who dropped their first two home games by a combined three points.

The second half was a back and forth affair with neither team establishing more than a four-point advantage at any point. Dagunduro led the Huskers with 16 points while Steve Harley had 13 with five assists. Redshirt freshman Toney McCray came off the bench for 13 points and seven rebounds while Paul Velander added nine points, including a pair of critical 3-pointers late in the second half.

OSU came out strong, pulling out to an 8-2 lead behind Deane, who had five quick points. Deane got to the line early, completing a traditional three-point play and knocking down another pair of foul shots before the first media timeout.

Dagunduro and McCray pulled the Huskers even at 8-8 after a strong defensive stretch. Nebraska held Oregon State without a point for more than four minutes while Dagunduro and McCray connected on three straight baskets.

Rickey Claitt broke the tie with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give OSU an 11-8 advantage before Calvin Haynes added another trey after Ryan Anderson's basket to give the Beavers a 14-10 lead. Haynes became eligible earlier in the week and was playing in his first game of the season, finishing with 14 points off the bench.

Haynes' basket started a small run that pushed the OSU lead out to 19-13 before Nebraska started to come back. The Huskers scored nine of the next 11 points, starting on single free throws on consecutive trips by Dagunduro. Following an Oregon State basket, Harley scored and Velander added the Huskers' first 3-pointer of the game to pull NU within a point.

Harley got Nebraska on top for the first time in the game with his basket at 3:36 mark. After pushing the ball around the top of the key, Harley grabbed it and drove the baseline, rattling in an off-balance attempt in the final three seconds of the shot clock to put the Huskers up 22-21.

OSU tied it and then Harley gave the Huskers their last lead of the frame at 24-22 on a pair of charity shots as Nebraska had just four free throws in the final three minutes of the period. NU finished the period hitting 42.9 percent from the field but was plagued by nine turnovers.

The teams went back and forth to open the second period as neither team built a lead more than two points until Omari Johnson hit a pair of baskets and Haynes added a three-point play to make it 40-36 in favor of the Beavers. McCray came right back, drilling a 3 from the left corner at the 12:23 mark to cut the lead back to one but Nebraska could not get over the hump until Cookie Miller scored on back-to-back possessions.

Miller had a basket driving in the middle of the zone to knot the score at 43 and added a layup off a Harley steal and outlet from the other end. Dagunduro added an uncontested layup off a nifty Harley pass following a strong baseline drive, with the scoring giving NU its largest lead of the game, 47-43.

Oregon State quickly countered with another 3 by Haynes before NU forged ahead 51-48 on McCray's putback off a missed Miller shot. The Beavers then scored six straight until Harley drained a pair of free throws to pull the Huskers back within one, 54-53, with 4:06 to play.

Down the stretch, Velander hit a pair of 3-pointers with less than three minutes remaining to pull NU back within one. McCray put the Huskers back on top with just over a minute remaining with a basket from the wing.

The Huskers took their last lead of the night on Dagunduro’s free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining before Deane got to the line for the decisive points and set up the exciting finish.

Nebraska returns to the court next weekend on Saturday, Dec. 20, when the Huskers take on IPFW at the Devaney Center. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and can be heard on the IMG Husker Sports Network and free around the world on Huskers.com.