Tears were shed at Gill Coliseum on Saturday, as Joe Burton said goodbye to his teammates and the fans. The Beavers struggled early on, but stayed in the battle the entire way, before falling to the California Golden Bears (18-9, 10-5) in a heart breaker, 60-59.
Joe Burton finished the day with 15 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and five steals, while Eric Moreland added eight points and 14 rebounds. Roberto Nelson had 10 points. Justin Cobbs led California with 18 points.
“Joe (Burton) chose to come to Oregon State, and he chose to play for me. He has just gotten better every single season…it’s heartwarming,” -head coach Craig Robinson
Oregon State (13-15, 3-12 Pac-12) fell behind early to as many as 14 points, before rallying to within one-point with less than a minutes to play. The Beavers pulled down a defensive rebound and called a timeout with only 4.3 seconds to play. Ahmad Starks took the inbounds pass, went the distance of the court, but a sideways-fading, game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer fell short.
Beavers’ head coach Craig Robinson still found positives after the game.
“This was an all too familiar position, but I am really proud of our guys.”
Oregon State has now dropped four of their last five games, and only have three games remaining in Pac-12 Conference play. The Beavers face the Oregon Ducks (22-6, 11-4) at Matt Knight Arena on Thursday. The California Golden Bears will take on Utah (11-15, 3-11) later this week.
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