The Sacramento State men’s basketball team faced its toughest opponent so far this season as it defeated Oregon State 65-63 at Gill Coliseum on Saturday.

Oregon State had the initial momentum as it kicked off its home opener. The Beavers had a 13-9 lead with 13:14 remaining in the first half.

The Hornets took a timeout to try to figure out how to stop the Beavers’ Tarver brothers.

Sac State looked like a whole new team coming out of the timeout. The Hornets dominated the Beavers in nearly every statistical category en route to a 20-4 run just before the half ended.

Sac State could not miss from behind the arc. The Hornets shot nine of 15 from 3-point land. Junior guard Sultan Toles-Bey led all scorers with nine points in the first half. He knocked in a 3-pointer with seconds remaining in the half to give Sac State a 44-22 halftime lead.

The Beavers would not go down quietly in the second half. Oregon State started using a full-court press on defense to keep the pressure on Toles-Bey.

The defensive strategy worked as Sac State cooled off offensively. Sac State shot one of seven in the first four minutes of the half.

The Beavers took advantage of the Hornets’ faltering offense with a 28-10 run.

Sac State took a much-needed timeout with 7:35 remaining in regulation. It did not help as Oregon State went on a 10-0 run led by freshman forward Joe Burton following the timeout. The Beavers’ Seth Tarver tied the game 58-58 with 3:19 remaining in the fourth quarter with a layup off of a Daniel Domineek-missed jumper.

The two teams kept trading baskets during the next 1:45 when Burton fouled Toles-Bey to send him to the free-throw line. Toles-Bey knocked down both shots to give Sac State a 62-60 lead with 1:34 remaining.

Beavers guard Calvin Haynes then missed a quick jumper that the Hornets rebounded and quickly took down the court for an easy layup by senior center Justin Eller. Haynes redeemed himself with a layup to cut the lead to 64-62 with 10 seconds remaining in regulation.

The Beavers immediately fouled senior guard Antonio Flaggs who made the first free throw, but missed the second. Oregon State snatched the rebound and called a timeout.

Instead of giving the Beavers an opportunity to tie the game with a 3-point shot, Flaggs fouled Haynes forcing him to make two free throws. Haynes made the first and purposely missed the second in order to get the rebound and score again.

Freshman guard John Dickson got the rebound but turned the ball over to give the Beavers a chance to tie the game.

Haynes had a nice look at the basket with three seconds remaining but could not find the iron as time expired.

Toles-Bey led all Hornet scorers with 17 points; Flaggs had 10 points and Eller came off the bench to add 12 points in the win.

With the victory, the men’s basketball team has won more games so far than it did for the entire 2008-09 season.

Sac State (3-2) looks continue winning as head coach Brian Katz’s squad will play on the road at Idaho University Thursday at 7:05 p.m.

Andrew Hazard can be reached at [email protected].