PULLMAN — TJ Bamba came off the bench to score 16 points and grab eight rebounds, sparking Washington State to a 71-67 victory over Oregon State on Thursday night.
Bamba hit two 3-pointers and scored eight in the first half, but the Cougars (17-13, 10-9 Pac-12 Conference) went scoreless over the final 3:09 and settled for a 32-32 tie at intermission. Oregon State didn’t have a basket after Maurice Calloo’s three-point play gave the Beavers a 28-20 lead with 6:36 left. Calloo made four foul shots to tie the game.
Neither team got any kind of separation in the second half, until Tyrell Roberts sank two free throws and Bamba followed with a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 56-49 lead at the 8:10 mark. Oregon State (3-26, 1-18) got back within two, but Bamba hit from deep, Noah Williams had a basket and Efe Abogidi sank two free throws then hit a 3-pointer to cap a 10-3 run for a 66-57 lead with 3:46 left.
WSU pushed its lead to 11, but Dexter Akanno hit two 3-pointers and Jarod Lucas added another in a 10-1 run to pull the Beavers within 69-67 with 26 seconds remaining. Roberts, a 93% free-throw shooter on the year, made two with 14 seconds left to cap the scoring.
