Better effort brings OSU back from blowout brink.

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - Jay John had very little to say to his team at halftime Saturday.

The Beavers had fallen behind to Nevada-Las Vegas by 19 points, and generally looked disinterested in doing so. If nothing else, John told his team at the break, at least play hard in the second half.

They got the message. Oregon State started making that second pass on offense. The Beavers boxed out. And they charged back to beat the Rebels 69-63 before 6,561 fans at Gill Coliseum.

"That second half was a lot of fun," John said.

Marcel Jones led the Beavers with his first career double-double, 15 points and 11 rebounds. He made three baskets as Oregon State scored on eight of nine possessions early in the second half. The offensive burst energized OSU on the other end; the Beavers limited UNLV's second shots and began to force turnovers.

Oregon State (2-2) was outrebounded 27-18 in the first half but won the overall battle 46-45. The Beavers allowed UNLV (2-3) to shoot 46.2 percent in the first half (18-of-39), but just 12.9 in the second (4-of-31). The Rebels missed their first 15 attempts after halftime, and made just one of their first 21.

"We took the momentum from them," Jones said.

It was the opposite story in the first half. The Beavers made 6-of-25 field goals, often forcing shots without making even a single pass, and missed nearly half of their 23 free-throw attempts. OSU was deflated, and it showed in its defense and rebounding.

Louis Amundson was the beneficiary for the Rebels, repeatedly cleaning up the boards and scoring second-chance points. He had 14 points at halftime and 10 rebounds.

"Amundson is a pogo stick, a heck of a player," John said.

At halftime, down 44-25, John asked his team for three things they would try to improve in the second half. Boxing out, one player offered. Denying the ball into the post, another said. More energy on offense, said a third.

At that point, John said, "I didn't particularly care if we won or lost." He wanted intensity.

Oregon State shot out of the gates and closed to within 46-41. The Rebels responded, but the Beavers put the ball in the hands of senior guard Jason Fontenet, and he led way down the stretch.

Fontenet, who came off the bench for the first time this season, fed Nick DeWitz for a dunk to make it 55-50, then found Sasa Cuic for a three-pointer following a UNLV miss. After the Rebels missed a free throw, Fontenet found DeWitz, and he passed to Kyle Jeffers for a basket that tied the game, 55-55.

After a timeout with 4:35 left, UNLV hit its second field goal of the second half, a three-pointer. Fontenet then again found DeWitz for a basket in the post, and a Chris Stephens three-pointer on OSU's next possession gave the Beavers the lead.

DeWitz, who also came off the bench, had his best game of the season with 14 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots. Fontenet had seven points and five assists.

"Not an impressive line," John said. "But he was the most dominant guy on the floor."

The question remains as to why the Beavers didn't come alive until the second half.

"Why does it take being down, and being pushed to the floor, before you come up to fight?" John wondered.

But fight they did, all the way to a victory.

"It was gut and heart," Fontenet said. "That's all it was toward the end."

CAPTION(S):

Oregon State's Marcel Jones scored 15 points in the 69-63 win. Rick Bowmer / The Associated Press Oregon State's Sasa Cuic (15) battles UNLV's Rene Rougeau for a rebound during the first half on Saturday.