CORVALLIS – Oregon State gave its men’s basketball fans plenty of thrills and scares Monday night as the Beavers opened the 2024-25 season with an 80-57 victory over Utah Tech at Gill Coliseum.

The retooled Beavers, with nine new players on the roster, dominated large portions of each half, but had enough shutouts to give Utah Tech hope. It was the best final impression as Oregon State outscored the Trailblazers 26-5 over the final nine minutes of the game.

Transfer guard Damarco Minor has proven to be the electric guard Oregon State has been looking to add to the backfield. Minor hit three 3-pointers and led the Beavers with 23 points. Minor was a defensive threat with four steals.

Joining Minor as double-digit scorers were Oregon State’s Michael Rataj with 15 points, Parsa Fallah with 13 and Nate Kingz with 11.

The second half featured both sides of this team. Utah Tech got back into the game early in the half with a 12-0 run to take a 43-40 lead. But OSU rallied, then pulled away from the Trailblazers with a stunning 22-2 run later in the half.

Fallah and Rataj each had seven rebounds for Oregon State. The Beavers shot 50% (32 of 64) from the floor.

Jesuit High School senior Justin Bieker led Utah Tech with 14 points. Utah Tech was picked to finish eighth out of nine teams in the Western Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll.

Oregon State led 38-31 at halftime after taking command with a 12-0 run midway through the first 20 minutes. Fallah was dominant in the first half with 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Utah Tech led 12-11 with 13:49 left when the Beavers rattled off 12 straight points. The Beavers defense fueled some of the run as they were able to execute missed shots by the Trailblazers.

The Beavers were inconsistent the rest of the half. Utah Tech got within five points as OSU struggled to finish at the rim. A Josiah Lake three-pointer got things going, followed by a Kingz layup as the Beavers took a 32-22 lead.

Utah Tech didn’t hesitate to make things interesting early in the second half. The Trailblazers gave up the first basket, then went on a 12-0 run to take a 43-40 lead. The Beavers were out of sorts offensively as they went nearly four minutes without scoring.

A rebound basket by Rataj got things going. Minor’s strength in defense created some chances. On the run, Lake hit Minor in stride as he buried a triple to give OSU a 47-45 lead.

The beavers had regained control. OSU went on an 8-0 run, with Fallah capping the run with a layup, to take a 62-52 lead with seven minutes left. Minutes later, back-to-back 3-pointers by Minor extended the lead to 19.

Oregon State returns to action Friday against Weber State at Gill Coliseum at 7 p.m.

—Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, [email protected] or @nickdaschel.

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