CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Bushnell men's basketball team trailed by just seven points at halftime and Oregon State needed to pull away late as the Beacons impressed in an 83-66 loss to the Beavers in an exhibition match at Gill Coliseum. It was the first NCAA Division I contest for Bushnell to ever stay within 20 points at its conclusion.
 
The Beacons kept things interesting early, with the deficit remaining in single-digits for most of the first half. A put-back from Stevie Schlabach with 39 seconds remaining in the period helped the visitors stay within 41-34 at the intermission.
 
Back-to-back buckets from OSU to start the second half didn't deter the Beacons as Spencer Hoffman lifted the team on his back scoring six unanswered points. Bushnell had climbed back to within 47-42 with 15 minutes to play.
 
The size and strength of the Pac-12 foe started to take its toll as the game wore on, however, and the Beavers put any thoughts of an upset to bed, shooting over 60% in the period to pull away.
 
After the game, head coach Eddie Alexander said, "I am very proud of how our guys fought the entire game. We didn't shoot well tonight as their length bothered us, but we took the right shots."
 
 
The Beacons (2-2) were led by Hoffman, finishing with a game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds as he shot 9-for-14 from the field including a pair of three-pointers and a perfect 7-for-7 performance at the free-throw line. Alexander said, "Spencer is the real deal and he played within himself tonight. He didn't allow OSU to speed him up as he did last weekend."
 
Trevon Richmond added 12 points as he headed to the free-throw line ten times and made good on all ten attempts. As a team, Bushnell shot 91.3% at the charity stripe (21-for-23), to balance a 20-for-61 night shooting the ball from the field.
 
Oregon State (3-0) who credit a regular-season win for the game, had four players in double-figures led by Glen Taylor Jr. with 19. Jordan Pope added 15 points while Rodrigue Andela came off the bench to score 14 and Dzmitry Ryuny added 12.
 
"This three-game stretch has taught us so much about ourselves," said Alexander, "and we are looking forward to taking that experience into conference."
 
Bushnell will have a week off as they prepare to take on Willamette Valley rival Corban University (2-0) in the Cascade Collegiate Conference opener for both squads in Eugene on Tuesday night.