The Barometer Online

Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ethan Erickson Sophomore forward Omari Johnson finished the Civil War with 14 points and tied his season high of two steals and two blocks.

It was one of the biggest wins Oregon State has seen in a long time, and it came in the form of a 57-54 victory over the hated Ducks in Craig Robinson's first Civil War game.

Not only was it the first Civil War game for Robinson, but it was also the first near-sellout of Legendary Gill Coliseum that any player on the Oregon State roster has played in front of in his Beaver career.

"Walking in there and hearing all those people, it was electric," OSU head coach Craig Robinson said. "To be able to come up with the result we had with all those people there makes it even better, because we want those people to come all the time and we want them to feel like they're seeing a different team."

Different is one way of describing the energy held within Legendary Gill Coliseum late in the game Saturday night, as the game was celebrated with past Beaver greats who had not been back in sometime. Former guard Ray Blume had not been back in nearly 30 years, and no fan at the game was rowdier than former All-American forward A.C. Green.

The Beavers trailed by a score of 35-30 at halftime and were down by as many as 12 with just 2:29 remaining before the intermission. With the possibility of being the first to lose to their arch nemesis this season, Robinson stressed the importance of a victory to his players.

"Coach Robinson gave us a little speech at halftime," sophomore forward Omari Johnson said after playing his best game of the season. "He was calm. He wasn't yelling. He just said if we don't pick it up then we're going to lose this game and we couldn't lose the Civil War in front of the packed house we had."

Following the rouser by Robinson, the Beavers played like an entirely different team, turning the game into a tale of two halves.

Oregon guard Tajuan Porter, who scorched the Beavers for 19 points in the first half, didn't come up with any kind of offense for 15 and a half minutes into the second half, as OSU's suffocating 1-3-1 held the Ducks to just 19 total points in the final 20 minutes.

"Porter didn't really touch the ball. He didn't get his shots off. He had three points," sophomore guard Calvin Haynes said about Oregon State's second half adjustments. "He didn't hit his first shot till almost the four minute mark. I think that was the big difference between us and them in the second half."

Continued...

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